A small group of ice trolls came charging towards FCG through the narrow, snowy pass. However, the trolls never reached their quarry, as they were confused, webbed, lit on fire, sucked into a well of gravity, and stabbed over and over instead. FCG traveled a bit further into the frigid night before stopping to rest. They awoke the next morning, Gelier’s southern mountain range on the horizon, and continued on their trek, arriving at the mountains as the sun reached its apex. After a brief comb through the range’s base, FCG stumbled upon a cave mouth being guarded by two wild folk. Though hesitant of the newcomers at first, the wild folk allowed FCG access to the cave upon seeing Endrin’s symbol of the Bright Queen and acknowledging the party’s affiliation with the Kryn Dynasty.
The first the things the party noticed upon entering the cave were the massive worm entombed in the ice at the cave’s rear and the gathering of people chipping away at the ice and the worm’s flesh. The presence of the worm, whose hulking body seemed to extend well beyond what was visible in the cave, was enough for FCG to conclude that they had indeed located the wormkin and completed the first part of their quest. Malcolm nearly wretched at the sight of the denizens of the cave hungrily devouring the worm’s flesh. As the party sifted through the cave in search of the wormkin’s leader, Galgonos, they noticed that each wormkin they spoke to had a grim appearance, one of greasy, matted, hair and blackened veins peaking through pale white skin.
Eventually, the party made their way up to the worm and found Galgonos overseeing the ongoing excavation and harvesting efforts. As forewarned by Burca, Galgonos refused to have his tribe accompany the party back to Vurmas until the worm was freed from the ice. As the party began to ponder how to accomplish this task, Galgonos offered a suggestion. Galgonos suggested that the frost giants who lived in the nearby mountains would be quite proficient at removing large portions of ice from the worm’s body and that the party should go meet with them. The two sides reached a tentative agreement that, if FCG returned with the giants then the wormkin would head to Vurmas with them to join the Kryn.
FCG departed the cave along with one of the wormkin who was able to speak giant, Haggas, and headed up into the mountains. Not long after nightfall, the party reached the frost giants’ fortress. The party grew a bit unnerved at sight of the open draw bridge and lack guards as they approached. FCG noticed blood stains and signs of conflict immediately upon entering the fortress. They made their way through a large battered door and into a wrecked great hall where the skeletal and decaying remains of a few of the giants lay. As Endrin neared one of the corpses, he caught a whiff of necromancy emanating from its bones. Before the wizard could warn the others, the skeletal giant rose, along with its other undead kin, and attacked the party. The battle was fierce, as critical blows were dealt from both sides. Despite sustaining heavy damage, FCG defeated the giants, returning them to their resting state. As the largest giant fell, Eris noticed a large crown rattle across the icy floor, and concluded that the undead giant was likely the frost giants’ leader in life.
FCG crept through the rest of the deathly silent fortress with caution. As they searched, they discovered that all of the frost giants had either been slain or had seemingly departed, leaving the place picked clean. The party did, however, recover a few missives, written in giant, from the Jarls quarters and one of the common bedchambers. The missives made mention of an alliance between giants, Jarl Egmoot and the Dread Jarl Conessa Berg, that had soured. The letters also brought up the mysterious “Black Wizard” that FCG had first learned of just a few days prior. From these writings, the party concluded that this group of frost giants had likely been betrayed from within and either slain or made to join forces with the Dread Jarl and or Black Wizard.
With no giants left to treat with and no sun left in the sky, FCG settled into the Jarl’s quarters for the night. As they made camp, they pondered the potential connections between the Remnants, the Bladescarred, and now Frost Giants, fearing the worst of the grim implications. There was also the matter of the wormkin that required much discussion. Triple J recalled old tales of the Crawling King, one of the betrayer gods, and its use of massive worms during the Calamity, and, following Triple J’s arcane message to Speaker Artaema, FCG also concluded that the worm was tampering with the wormkin’s minds and physiology. Finally, Triple J reached out to his father, Xavier, to inform him that this cult, the Remnants, were active in Eiselcross as well. Disturbed by the news, Xavier promised to continue his investigation and keep Triple J up to date with his findings. With still much to ponder, much to do, and precious little time, the party turned in for the night.
