Deadstone Cleft IV

…No matter how much pleading with the gods, or what he tried, Leo received no answer from the stone slab of the Fog King’s tomb (area 7). Eventually, the party convinced him that they needed to move on.

Continuing through the tunnels to the northwest, the party entered a large chamber (area 14) holding three fossilized stone giants standing in alcoves carved into the western wall, their eyes forever fixed on a rocky island surrounded by the same strange mud seen before. The mud oozed into the cave through stone grates in the northeast and southeast walls. Two sturdy stone bridges spanned the mud pool, connecting the island to nearby ledges. Overlooking these bridges were two more fossilized stone giants. The chamber’s most prominent feature was a 40-foot-long stalactite that hung from the ceiling above the island. From a base 20 feet in diameter, it tapered to a rough point a few feet above the surface of the island.

Standing next to the stalactite was a female stone giant, carving into the stalactite. She was wearing more hunting adornments than the other giants thus far and a mithral belt across her waist held three (giant-sized) pouches. Strapped to her forearm as a bracer was a wooden elven shield reinforced by an emerald-hued metal and adorned with a golden oak leaf in the center. This could only be the current Thane.

Thaminor’s eyes went wide upon seeing that shield, and exclaimed to the party, “That’s the Oakenshield!” Looking over from the stalactite, the stone giant uttered what sounded like some type of curse or insult as she threw a boulder at the party before lifting her huge club to her shoulder. Springing into action, Pix laid a wall of force down as a bridge across the mud, creating a shortcut to avoid circumnavigating the room. Thaminor and Molish moved forward to engage while T’Sai drew back on his bow and let fly.

Melding into the stone to quickly close the distance, the mighty Thane engaged with a fury. One of the giant’s mighty swings landed solidly with Molish and sent him flying off the force bridge, where he hit the side and slid down in to the mud. Thaminor squared off with the giant while T’Sai circled around and Pix and Leo cast from the high ground.

The stone giant uttered some arcane words, which Pix later said he believes was a Time Stop… which sounds accurate, since suddenly the Thane was on the upper ledge behind the magic users, while one of the petrified giants had animated and taken her place below. With no sign of Molish, the remaining party fought with all their might to end the battle and save their friend. Soon, the threats were ended and Pix used Bigby’s Hand to scoop a petrified Molish out of the mud.

Unable to help Molish for now, Thaminor claimed his birthright from the dead Thane’s forearm, while Leo and T’Sai checked the corpse and Pix examined the stalactite. In the first two stone giant’s pouches, the party found several gemstones and an orb of granite about the size of an adult human’s fist. Crystalline veins ran across the surface, which appeared to form a rune that means “stone.” The third pouch held a rock gnome clockmaker named Elister Noggins. The affable rock gnome promised them “a hefty reward” if the characters would see him safely to his shop in Loudwater.

Following a much-needed long rest, Leo channeled a greater restoration to break Molish from his petrification and the party moved out, Elister in tow. To the northeast was another bridge across the stream below. The stone giants had carved the back wall of the can­yon into a 150-foot-tall statue surmised to be of their god, Skoraeus Stonebones, who looks like a powerfully built stone giant with spikes protruding from his head and shoul­ders. The monument was an astonishing bit of stonecraft in terms of its sheer size. Rivulets of water poured down from the mountain onto the statue, which channeled the water into the stream that flows out through Deadstone Cleft. The sound of falling water was quite loud here, and a thick mist drifted over everything. Two stone giants knelt before the statue, their heads bowed and their stone greatclubs lying on the ground beside them.

Taking care to not draw the stone giants’ attention, the party cross the bridge into another cave (area 15D) beyond. Six human bedrolls surrounded a fire pit that lay between a rocky pillar and two tall stalagmites. South­east of the campfire was a 30-foot-wide hole in the wall that looked out into a naturally lit grotto (area 12), the floor of which lay 30 feet below. Two large wooden cages were tucked under a natural overhang along the north wall. One cage was empty; the other held two captured rust monsters. Kicking the cage, Leo sent the rust monsters into a frenzy, and they began to break the bars on their cage… until they were struck down by arcane might.

The next cave, open to the sky, had 150-foot-high walls with scores of natural, moss-covered ledges and overhangs. A 5-foot-deep pool of rainwater stood in the middle of the floor between three stalagmites, and the fossilized remains of four stone giants filled alcoves carved into the walls. The southernmost stalagmite was actually a roper that attacked the party as they moved through the room, though it posed no real threat.

The northern area of the next cave (area 15C) was 10 feet lower than the rest of the cave floor and contained four human bedrolls. The main area contained a large cooking campfire that was virtually extinguished, with a half-charred goat on a wooden spit above.

Following the tunnel to the southeast, the party came to a damp cave (area 10) that contained a large, shallow pool, around which colorful beds of moss grew. Sprouting from these mossy beds were scores of mushrooms that ranged in height from a few inches to 5 feet tall. A narrow stream originating from a fissure in the north­east tunnel fed the pool before snaking westward and spilling into the canyon. Having traveled through mushroom fields before, they knew the risks; so, Leo used control water to divert the stream and give the party a mossy but mushroom-free bed to walk along.

As they crossed the cave, a stone giant rose out of the floor and attacked with his greatclub! After his swing, the giant hummed a tune, and a few piercers dropped from the 50-foot ceiling and also attacked the party. This latest suicide attempt did not distract the party long, however.

Having covered all the ground they felt necessary, the party returned to the tomb of the Fog King, where Leo still had no luck receiving a response. Thaminor took this opportunity to run back to the stonecarving cave (area 8) to grab some uncut gemstones. Deciding to next take Elister back home to Loudwater, Leo once again transformed them all with his wind walk…