Three adventurers from the Elite Underman Excavation Guild met their contact in a conference room above the Cult of Strength's physical therapy clinic in Shrine of Teeth.
- Aethelbald the Green, Orc Rogue
- Aten Hookmantled, Dwarven Beastmaster
- Sweetheart, Aten's Dungeon Worm
- Breadrick Bravebelly, Halfling Rogue
Their contact was a bald man with a perfectly regular grid of scars across his body, which he embellished with fresh cuts across the back of his arm as the Guild entered. They instantly recognized him as Dacian of the Tower, a high ranking hiero at the Temple of Swords, and thought they had walked into an ambush. Gary the Mage had caused some controversy by exposing the Church's swords-for-slaves scheme, and his anti-Temple stance had previously won him threats of hired assassination.
But it all worked out, because Dacian appreciated the Guild's dedication to exposing corrupt elements of the Temple. He had it on good authority that several members of the organization were victims of psychic dream sending from an unknown entity in the undercity, subtly altering their behavior in disturbing ways. The source of the emissions was a mysterious soapstone statue in the Thingstead of the Giant Conclave. If the Guild destroyed the mysterious statue, he'd pay them handsomely. The Guild decided that, as long as they were down in the dungeon, they would help Aten find another beast for his menagerie. Whatever monster they found could live at Aethelbald's ranch along with the Unicorn from the Stone Garden. There were two entrances to the Giant Conclave, one through the Fire Giant Forge and one from the cellar under Hangman's Hill.
The Troll in charge of the Kick at the Clouds let the Guild use his dungeon entrance for free, since they did such good work evicting the Red Claw gang on the last delve. He told them a group of exterminators went down there to deal with some creature gnawing at his foundations and hadn't come up yet. There were definite signs that someone had used the dungeon entrance. Sweetheart the Dungeon Worm smelled food and Aten was barely able to restrain her. Breadrick scouted ahead to see what was going on.
Two adventurers hacked away at the corpse of an enormous humanoid beetle while a third stood guard. The big woman peeled apart the claws while the little one delicately removed the larger of the monster's two pairs of eyes. A stealthy fourth adventurer crept up behind Breadrick and asked if he liked what he saw. The Scalphunters had slaughtered an Umber Hulk and now they were breaking it down for spare parts. The rogue was Yrigoyen, the big lady Metaxa, the big guy Arturo. The little mage was Farnaba, who shrieked like a kiwi bird when a jet of Hulk ichor squirted in her face, prompting the other three to rush solicitously to her aid.
Aten asked if they could have some of the piled Hulk guts to feed Sweetheart, who was just barely restraining herself. The Scalphunters refused and Aten didn't press the issue, uninterested in being chop shopped for Dwarf meat. The tunnel to the Giant Conclave was blocked with furniture, which the Guild hauled out of the way. The passage beyond was trapped with a tripwire holding up a tarp filled with gravel, which would block their retreat if they triggered it. Breadrick tied off the cable to the restraining piton so it wouldn't fall, then went forward with Aethelbald to explore the realm.
Aten asked if they could have some of the piled Hulk guts to feed Sweetheart, who was just barely restraining herself. The Scalphunters refused and Aten didn't press the issue, uninterested in being chop shopped for Dwarf meat. The tunnel to the Giant Conclave was blocked with furniture, which the Guild hauled out of the way. The passage beyond was trapped with a tripwire holding up a tarp filled with gravel, which would block their retreat if they triggered it. Breadrick tied off the cable to the restraining piton so it wouldn't fall, then went forward with Aethelbald to explore the realm.
The passage led to a giant dining room. A pair of Cyclopses fussed over the next meal in an adjacent kitchen, commiserating about their obnoxious clients. A Frost Giant entered the kitchen, prompting the adventurers to hide beneath the table, and began arguing with the Cyclopses. The conversation was mostly in Jotunspeak, which the adventurers couldn't understand. The Frost Giant went back the way he came and the Cyclopses wondered what was up with him - he was always annoying but he'd gotten a lot worse.
The Guild used a human-sized tunnel in the wall of the dining room to sneak past the Cyclopses and into a giant masonry workshop with stone blocks and pillars, lit by heated stones in the dish of a magical tripod. The columns were square and cut with lines on the corners, a form of Giant writing nobody could read. The door to the conclave chamber was blocked with a boulder but the group could hear the sound of five voices arguing on the other side, including the Frost Giant. They followed the sound of rattling stones and found a lapidary room with tools for cutting, polishing and setting gems. A rock tumbler spun of its own accord, axle smeared with nigh-frictionless lubrication. Aethelbald stopped it turning and a bunch of emeralds spilled out, narrowly escaping when an earthquake toppled the tumbler on its side soon after.
The next chamber was a Hill Giant's bedroom. Breadrick disarmed the giant spring-loaded spike trap on the enormous chest and stole the Giant's stash of mammoth ivory. Sweetheart the worm tore open one of the bags and swallowed a wooden food bowl. The sound of the boulder rolling aside prompted the Guild to hide amid the discarded objects as a Stone Giant came into the workshop. He reset the rock tumbler, noticed the stones had fallen out, looked for them under the various appliances, gave up and left with an armload of fresh stone columns.
The Guild used a human-sized tunnel in the wall of the dining room to sneak past the Cyclopses and into a giant masonry workshop with stone blocks and pillars, lit by heated stones in the dish of a magical tripod. The columns were square and cut with lines on the corners, a form of Giant writing nobody could read. The door to the conclave chamber was blocked with a boulder but the group could hear the sound of five voices arguing on the other side, including the Frost Giant. They followed the sound of rattling stones and found a lapidary room with tools for cutting, polishing and setting gems. A rock tumbler spun of its own accord, axle smeared with nigh-frictionless lubrication. Aethelbald stopped it turning and a bunch of emeralds spilled out, narrowly escaping when an earthquake toppled the tumbler on its side soon after.
The next chamber was a Hill Giant's bedroom. Breadrick disarmed the giant spring-loaded spike trap on the enormous chest and stole the Giant's stash of mammoth ivory. Sweetheart the worm tore open one of the bags and swallowed a wooden food bowl. The sound of the boulder rolling aside prompted the Guild to hide amid the discarded objects as a Stone Giant came into the workshop. He reset the rock tumbler, noticed the stones had fallen out, looked for them under the various appliances, gave up and left with an armload of fresh stone columns.
A fissure in the rock led through the wall into a series of small caves, packed with strange memorabilia. Women's clothing and jewelry, stacked haphazardly and stained with blood. Breadrick recognized the items as trophies taken by the serial killer Passwall, a murderer who terrorized the Rouge district until the Temple of Swords caught him in a honey trap and hacked him to pieces. An adjacent cave held a shrine created by the killer, charcoal wall illustration depicting an octopus reaching through walls with its tentacles to strangle women. Amid the heaped bones at the base of the mural was a clay jar holding two plugs of inky purple tobacco. Breadrick immediately packed the bowl of his pipe and took a puff. An excellent feeling came over him, like he was lighter than air and could go wherever he pleased. Aten shoved him through a wall and he tumbled into the meeting room of the Giant Conclave.
The Giants were embroiled in a five-way debate over whether to enter into an alliance with a mysterious third party against the surface world. The Storm Giant was suspicious, the Frost Giant was all-in on killing everyone, the Cloud Giantess thought war sounded like fun but also that humans were adorable. The Frost Giant demanded to speak with the ones-below by himself, which the Stone Giant said was allowable under the bylaws. The bearded Giant hefted the large soapstone statue and Breadrick shot him in the hand with a crossbow, hoping he'd drop and shatter it. The rotund statue didn't break when it hit the ground, Breadrick ran back through the wall before anyone could spot him. With no visible culprit, the other Giants assumed the Frost Giant had injured himself in his frothing rage.
Aethelbald decided not to let Breadrick have all the fun and smoked the rest of the magic tobacco. The two rogues stepped through the bronze plate at the end of the natural cave system and into a metal-walled room crafted by Fire Giants, lit by a familiar looking glowing beetle in a cage. They continued their exploration, stepping through the adjacent wall to find the injured Frost Giant in his bedroom, crouched and praying in front of the soapstone statue. If they could just get Sweetheart into the room with the statue the worm could destroy it with her auger-bitted teeth, but it would make noise and attract attention unless they had a plan...
First order of business was to open up the path for Aten and his worm. The worm could bore through the rock but it would make too much noise. Using a crowbar, Aethelbald and Breadrick pried out two of the rivets holding the Bronze plate to the cave wall. They opened enough of a seam for Aten and their worm to squeeze through into the annex. The door to the Fire Giant forge opened and Gary the Mage came in, oath to Gadma Crowell the Vampire Bride discharged, freed of his curse by the Medusa. He was happy to see the other adventurers, who explained the current quest to him. A Griffon poked its head through the freshly opened tunnel the Guild just left. The stupid beast thought Breadrick looked delicious and, with no natural predators in the dungeon, hadn't learned to fear armed bands of adventurers. It rushed out of the hole to scoop the Halfling up.
Aten ordered Sweetheart to immobilize the Griffon and the Worm grabbed the winged beast in its circular maw. Aethelbald and Breadrick further hampered the monster, lassoing its limbs with rope and pinning its beak shut. The Griffon struggled, Gary the Mage prepared a spell but it proved unnecessary, as Breadrick was able to get the immobilized monster calmed down by scruffing it with a hand behind the head. Aethelbald slashed open his hand and bled on the bronze paneling blocking off the tunnel to the Frost Giant room, quicksilver blood dissolving the metal.
With the path clear and the beast secured, the Guild settled down to camp in the Fire Giant annex. Aethelbald and Aten worked on taming the Griffon, teaching it to carry the Orc on its back and to fly around on command. Breadrick stood watch while Gary eavesdropped on the Storm and Cloud Giantess as they discussed the Frost Giant's weird behavior. Something had come over him, probably related to the idol. The Storm Giant had commissioned a suit of anti-psychic armor from the Fire Giants and it couldn't arrive soon enough, he was very worried that the squids were trying to take over the Giant Conclave while pretending to offer an alliance. Aethelbald and Breadrick slept terribly, dreaming of murder and squids and an ocean beneath the earth. They woke exhausted with a strong urge to kill.
Gary wrapped himself in an Elven burial shroud and cast an invisibility spell to scout ahead stealthily. The Conclave chamber was empty except for the Cyclopses cleaning up, the Giants having retired to their respective rooms.
With the path clear and the beast secured, the Guild settled down to camp in the Fire Giant annex. Aethelbald and Aten worked on taming the Griffon, teaching it to carry the Orc on its back and to fly around on command. Breadrick stood watch while Gary eavesdropped on the Storm and Cloud Giantess as they discussed the Frost Giant's weird behavior. Something had come over him, probably related to the idol. The Storm Giant had commissioned a suit of anti-psychic armor from the Fire Giants and it couldn't arrive soon enough, he was very worried that the squids were trying to take over the Giant Conclave while pretending to offer an alliance. Aethelbald and Breadrick slept terribly, dreaming of murder and squids and an ocean beneath the earth. They woke exhausted with a strong urge to kill.
Gary wrapped himself in an Elven burial shroud and cast an invisibility spell to scout ahead stealthily. The Conclave chamber was empty except for the Cyclopses cleaning up, the Giants having retired to their respective rooms.
The Frost Giant lived in a frozen area of the dungeon, on the shore of an icy lake and a mysterious passage that belched steam from somewhere deeper in the undercity. Gary shivered in the freezing chamber, cooled by an Ice Dragon hide on the floor next to the Frost Giant. The big guy didn't notice Gary, busy praying on front of the stone statue that allowed telepathic communication with the Giants' mysterious alliance partners. Gary hid in a snowbank and dropped invisibility to cast an Illusion spell, making the Frost Giant think the statue was commanding him to kill the Storm Giant. The enormous viking stomped out of the room, leaving the others free to shove aside the Giant dresser blocking the tunnel from the Fire Giant forge. The sounds of Giant combat from the Storm Giant's lightning room covered the sound of the worm grinding up the statue, interrupting Gary's attempt to telepathically parlay with whoever was on the other side. Breadrick opened the cabinet and stole the Frost Giant's gold banded drinking horn, narrowly avoiding the precariously balanced pail of brine the Giant set as a trap.
With the beast tamed and the statue smashed, it was time to exfiltrate. The main chamber was empty, the Guild saw the Cyclopses don coats in the kitchen and exit through an enormous pair of double doors that led to a snowy mountaintop. They contemplated looting the piled offerings at the feet of a votive statue of the God King, ruler of Civilized Giants, but elected to keep moving. A cloud of mist hanging over the kitchen coalesced into the Cloud Giantess. She recognized Gary the Mage, who Lucinda had told her all about. She wanted to see if the rumors were true and snatched the willing sorcerer up. The Guild went back to the City while the Giantess carried Gary up a series of cataracts to an enormous chamber where storm clouds discharged endless rain into a pool and lightning bolts churned the earth into a plane of columned fulgurites. The Frost Giant apologized to the Storm Giant and embraced him, mind free of the stone's malicious influence. The Cloud Giantess ignored the reconciling Giants and took Gary to her bedroom.
Dacian of the Tower of Pain paid the adventurers as agreed, accepting the chunks of sculpted soapstone recovered from the Giant Conclave as proof of the statue's destruction. Aten subjected Sweetheart the dungeon worm to intense strength training, beefing up the beast's threat level in combat. Aethelbald took the Griffon to his ranch outside the town, and bought it a new saddle and a lightweight barding. Breadrick linked up with Gary after he "escaped" his second confinement by a Giantess, and the pair used the substantial wealth they recovered from the Conclave to put their long delayed plan into action: the foundations Gary's magnificent tower which would one day stand taller than the Temple of Swords. In keeping with local regulations on ground floor retail in high rise buildings, they put a tavern on the first level. The Uber Underbar was open for business.
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