Giant Expectations

Giant expectations lead to giant disappointments

Entry #122

…the abandoned buildings of Atwater. I quickly realized there were spirits all around. The Nameless Man and I started to try and communicate with them. Before I could finish the meditation to open myself to them we heard the others in CrIsis making a commotion. We stepped outside the house to see craziness.

An ancient stone gazebo at the edge of town had sprouted a pair of stone legs. It walked twenty feet away from CrIsis then set back down. This was because Grignak had thrown a rock at it. ThenMerkl gave him a creme pie to throw at it. When he did a pile of leaves from within the gazebo disappeared and reappeared above Grignak’s head to fall on him. Grignak and Torrun were able to tell that the structure dated back to the Time of a Thousand Magics. I could tell it was magic.

One by one we all had strange things happen to us as we tried to interact with or get close to the structure. Eventually Grignak walked into it and disappeared. Then the newly re-appeared Walrus also went in and disappeared. Ursus ran in after them. Torrun and Merkl followed them. I looked for The Nameless Man in confusion. Was I hallucinating? Was I going mad? He came to the area talking with several ancient spirits. They told him the January Magic Tribe had gone through the gazebo when they left. Together we went through as well.

We arrived on a familiar beach in a similar gazebo. All of us were together again. I recognized this area as near where Moli and I used to work with Eastern colonists. Back before Great Apis brought me into CrIsis. I oriented myself while Ursus examined the tracks around us. We were east of Arcadia, north of Hewe’s Landing, and south of Hillfar. Ursus told us the tracks headed mostly north.

Before we could get moving we were besieged by messages. Each one from a later date, indicating a lot of time had passed. First Ursus received one dated the 5^th. Grignak began praying to Lady Bast but was whisked away by her almost immediately. Then Torrun received one dated the 6^th. Ursus received another one dated the 9^th. One arrived for Grignak which was dated the 12^th. The final one arrived for The Nameless Man. It was dated the 14^th.

It was the 5^th of Pegasus when we entered the gazebo. I was able to use my own powers to confirm what the letters all indicated. Today is now the 14^th of Pegasus. If we were going to find the January Magic Tribe we needed to get moving. Every day brings us closer to winter. Snow and storms will make travel much more difficult. We began walking north towards Hillfar.

It was night by the time we arrived. Before we crested the final hill I could smell lingering death coming from the north. Once we saw the village it was clear that it had been attacked some time ago. It had been the site of a battle and was in ruins. There were no signs of life. The people who lived here were flawed in their own ways but they did not deserve this apparent slaughter. They were good people. I knew several of them by name. How could

Together we all searched the village for any possible survivors. We found none. We only found three dead human bodies. They still had weapons impaled in them. I recognized one of them as Jakob Hontsmun. I taught him how to hunt in these woods properly, with respect. He was eager to learn. He wasn’t afraid of me like many of his fellow villagers were at first. It’s been at least 2 years since I saw him last. I prayed to the Gods for his spirit and for the other two as well.

The Nameless Man was able to tell that they died about 8 months ago at the hands of Wolfen. He recognized insignias from the Iron Claw tribe and the 13^th Tribe. Torrun helped me give them a proper burial. We are now making camp for the night. I thought writing in my journal about this would help me feel less upset. It has not.

Entry #123

Today was the 15^th of Pegasus. The Walrus was no longer with us when we awoke. Instead we were greeted by Grignak performing his daily blessing for us. He had been whisked away by his Goddess for special training. For him a month has passed since he left. For us it’s only been one day. He reminded us that today was the Festival of Bennu. We all lit torches and carried them with us in honor of the Goddess. Before we left the town I set a controlled fire in honor of Bennu and the people who once lived here. I redoubled it in power repeatedly until it was a roaring wall of incineration. Then I made the fire slowly move through the entire town, consuming it utterly. Torrun deliberately stood in the path of the flames. I don’t know why he did that. I moved the fire gently around him so he wouldn’t be hurt too badly by it. This seemed to disappoint him. I really don’t understand him sometimes.

Once the entire town was reduced to ash I could feel another fire begin to burn out of control just a short ways away. This was a new sense which came from my ascension. The ability to sense “accidental fires.” I ran to where it was. Once there I found The Nameless Man trying to manage a small fire in honor of Bennu. I could tell he wasn’t in control of it anymore, though I don’t think he realized it. Before I could say anything more to him we were suddenly approached by several giants. They were led by a giant woman who introduced herself as Hel Sundersdotter. She demanded that we come with her now to Nimro or else die.

The Nameless Man turned to me. He quietly whispered to me that he killed her father – Sunder Blackrock. He didn’t whisper it quietly enough. She heard him and became instantly angry. “You! You will die!” She shrieked those words at us as she ordered her giants to attack. We were unprepared for battle and far from our allies. They quickly started to overpower the Nameless Man. I lifted and carried him back to the rest of Crisis while he kept defending against their blows as they followed us. We reached Crisis and the battle resumed. Curiously our magic or psionics were blocked from working. I don’t know what ancient powers Hel unleashed but this meant she was obviously prepared to fight us. I began to think the request for aid had merely been a ruse. Then it turned out I might have been wrong.

Hel ordered her giants to stop fighting so she could talk with us. We stopped fighting too. Once again she demanded we help her rid her kingdom of the demons which her own brother had invited. We were to leave with her now or else. She and her giant minions all stepped back to give us space to discuss among ourselves. We decided to pray to the Gods for guidance. An unlit torch was placed in Hel’s direction. Another unlit torch was placed in the direction of the tracks we had been following. We asked the Gods to light the torch which showed the direction we should take.

To our surprise a third torch we hadn’t noticed burst alight. This torch was roughly indicating a direction that was towards a pyramid. That made sense. We still had one piece of Great Osiris yet to deliver to a pyramid. Chasing after this ‘Dragon-Blood Descendant’ had already taken us far from that course. Following the January Tribe to wherever they went would probably only cause more trouble within the Empire anyway. Our travels to Havea had already caused plenty. Unexpectedly my belly grumbled at the thought of turning away from the fresh pepper-sausages and jerky which the January Wolfen were so famous for. I must admit that was a small selfish pleasure I had hoped to experience again once we arrived. I turned away from those thoughts and focused again on the current situation.

All of us in CrIsis clearly understood the Goddesses’ answer. We announced to Hel that we would not return with her to Nimro today. Angry with rage Hel simply spread her arms and tilted her head back to look at the sky. “Anubis take me!” She screamed that at the sky. In a flash she disappeared. The other giants resumed their attack against us. With Hel gone our magic and psionics worked again. I could now clearly sense their strong supernaturally evil auras. We pressed the attack and overcame them.

The fire which The Nameless Man started continued to burn out of control during all that time. It was now a raging fire in the woods. I was able to pull it all to one spot where I concentrated and redoubled it in power before extinguishing it. This was done in dedication and thanks to Bennu. Grignak tossed all the weapons the giants had into the pillar of flames. He prayed to Bennu for these weapons to be purified. He then stripped off his clothing and stepped into the flames. He walked out holding a throwing dagger which had Bennu’s symbol upon it. Grignak handed the dagger to Torrun. Torrun I noticed also had a torch which seemed to be made of clay. It was the torch which the Goddess lit before our fight. It was also transformed by Her power.

I took one last mournful look at what remained of Hillfar. I suggested we begin the walk back to the Shield of Light. Torrun surprised us by pulling out a teleport scroll. He said he could use it to return us to the ship faster. That sounded like a good idea. Ursus said he’d rather return the long way so he could see his wife and children again. I also thought briefly that we should see stop and see Greminor Lector, the greatest alchemist in all of Palladium, before we took off. We voted for how we would return. Ultimately I had to vote to teleport as well. The Gods were clear in their message. I could not justify any other diversions. I have resolved to write an apology to Greminor which I will send later.

Torrun unrolled his scroll. We gathered around. He read the incantation but the sensation did not feel familiar this time. We arrived in a strange place. I readied my bow and looked around. Torrun and The Nameless Man were no longer with us. Instead I saw Xerx’ses and a strange Gnome. They looked just as surprised as we were. Just then we heard a Voice speak clearly to us. “Ah CrIsis. It will be good to avenge the past. I have taken the Minotaur’s child, and the bear-man’s childs. You have 13 hours…”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Note: These excerpts are from Silent Dream’s journal. They were written in Elven, on parchment paper between the 5^th and 25^th of Pegasus, in the seventy-second year of the Great Wolfen Empire and the first year of the Kingdom of Koris Gwaisol.

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