Category: Sentinel

My Lord Wesloke, 

I write this letter not in the expectation that you will receive it before the full account of the outcome of our mission here, but so that I have the events set down before time and recurrent head wounds fog my memory. As you will see at the end, there is also a chance that we may be able to send a missive to the outside world before we complete this mission. 

At the end of my last letter, we were stood before the mighty gates of what we had been informed was the lair of Snurre, king of the fire giants. Pausing to sort out our equipment, and in my case, resummon Florence as a tiger, being more suitable, I thought, to underground exploration, we decided that rather than trying to force the vast doors, we would use one of Griff’s incantations to create a small tunnel through the wall to one side of the gate, and enter through this. Although the passageway this would create is large to us, we hoped that it would be small enough to be less noticeable to the fire giants, especially if the room or hallway beyond was in darkness. 

Having created our own passageway, Drogon and myself, protected by invisibility, ventured in. We found a hallway, hung with tapestries, stretched into the mountain, lit by great guttering torches. At the far end, it opened out into some great intersection, but stationed at that intersection were two of the two-headed hill giants we had previously encountered – their four heads constantly scanning in all directions. As we stealthily approached, we carefully looked behind the tapestries, and discovered that the one nearest the great door held a niche behind it, where was stationed an alert fire-giant sentry. We surmised that this was a trap for intruders, who were expected to rush down the passageway to fall upon the two-headed giant sentries, and would then in turn be attacked from the rear by the fire giant. We therefore resolved to set a trap for their trap. 

I advanced towards the ettins, while Drogon crept into the niche. At a telepathic signal, I created a zone of magical silence across the end of the passageway where the junction and ettins were, while Drogon struck at the fire giant. Simultaneously the rest of the party charged in down the passageway, and engaged with the fire giant, while I hit the two-headed hill giants with blasts of psychic energy and set them to fighting one another.

The fight was brief, although hard, and we were rapidly victorious. Advancing to recover and hide the bodies of the hill giants, we realised that the junction was actually the end of a truly vast hall – almost as long I would say as the imperial throne room in Ranke. At the far end we could see five fire giants, one of whom wore a crown and sat on a great stone throne, a humanoid figure and two huge hounds. The king and the humanoid were conferring, so I crept down the hall, using the columns and tapestries as cover, to see if I could hear what they were conferring about. Unfortunately the hounds must have caught my scent, for they leapt to their feet. I rapidly retreated, not before having noticed the humanoid figure slip into the darkness behind the throne, followed by the two hounds, who breathed flaming breath on Thorg and Kurog. Hot on their heels was one of the fire giant guards. The fight was intense indeed, for the first guard was joined by two more, after which Griff interposed a wall of impenetrable force between the three giants fighting us, and King Snurre and his remaining giant guard. We did kill the three giant bodyguards though, even if we were sore wounded in the process. Kurog especially stood toe to toe with them, as I have celebrated in verse: 

Proud Kurog, strong in power and might

Stood firm in spite of gathering darkness

Shone bright and clear with burning light 

Vast foes approached, colossae of night

Firm stood he, no sign shown of weakness

Proud Kurog, strong in power and might 

Mind willing, blood heated, ready for the fight

His mighty axe, blade stroked with fondness

Shone bright and clear with burning light 

Small seemed he, ‘gainst foes’ great height

But no fear gripped him, ever dauntless

Proud Kurog, strong in power and might 

Sore wounded he, but bore as only slight

Three foe he slew, his axe most ruthless

Shone bright and clear with burning light 

Giants panicked, loss for them no delight

King Snurre fled, fear made him mindless

Proud Kurog strong in power and might

Shone bright and clear with burning light 

As my poem alludes (and I know you love a good poem, and at least tolerate mine), King Snurre and his remaining guard, having discovered that their missiles could not penetrate the wall of force that Griff had created around us, turned tail and fled. We too were sorely wounded though, and considered retreat ourselves, but were much concerned at how we could re-enter such a fortress if the guards were fully prepared, so we plunged further into the complex, sending Drogon to find a hiding place for us. He located a store-room, and Griff used his magic to fashion hiding places for us in the bases of half-full barrels. We rested a night there, and then emerged refreshed to continue our investigation. We discovered that the store room was visited by dog headed humanoids that seemed to be kitchen servants, so I used my illusory powers to give us all the form of similar humanoids, in the hope that any giant seeing us would think we were servants from the kitchen. 

Drogon had a good look around while invisible, while I keep my invisible eyes on two fire giants who were guarding an impressive looking door in the corridor just up from where we had rested. There was a crown over the door, so we assumed it was probably the king or queen’s quarters. Drogon discovered that the giants had erected barricades across key corridors and even mounted a ballista aimed down one of the long hallways. A frontal assault on this place now would have been a bloody affair. While we were considering whether to attack the king/queen’s chamber, the guard on the door was changed. Reasoning that another change wouldn’t be for several hours, we resolved to strike rapidly, but subtly. While Jude started a long casting of a spell that would create a zone of silence around the giants, the rest of us got into position. Just as she created the zone of silence, I manipulated the mind of one of the two giants on guard, making him see all other creatures as his enemies. He turned and struck his fellow guard, in complete silence of course, and they traded blows, although he rapidly felled his companion. Thorg and Kurog then quickly dispatched him. We entered the room, and discovered that it was a council chamber, rather than living quarters. We dragged the dead giants in, and investigated. 

A huge table dominated the centre of the room, with many giant chairs and one tall humanoid sized chair. We found a library of message scrolls, and amongst them, another letter from the Eclavdra that we seek, congratulating the fire giants for their raid on Trustor, and on the numbers of captives. I fear that unless the other elves caught up with them, the fate of the captives is grim indeed. There is much lore that the elves do not share of the time of the Sundering, but I have heard whispers that are told as stories to frighten children, and think that there is more behind those that they would not share with an outcast like me. It also named Caelkotha as her ambassador to King Snurre, and spoke of her Master, without any further details. We also found a chest full of herald’s wands belonging to King Snurre, unfortunately of giant size, and also a chest of rocks the opening of which caused Jude to be somewhat wounded by a spray of arrows. 

In the north wall, there was a small door, sized for us, behind which we could hear more of the dog-headed humanoids arguing over a game. We opened it and went in, and discovered eight of them gaming. They reacted hostilely to us, saying that slaves like us weren’t allowed in their quarters. We showed them faerie gold and asked to join the game, and then fell upon them. I charmed one into defending me, and the others found bravely, but succumbed to our superior might. While we were fighting them though, Thorg was suddenly struck from behind, by a dwarf that appeared out of nowhere. We were confused as to why a dwarf would be fighting on the giant side, so after whacking him a few times, we bludgeoned him into unconsciousness and tied him up. 

While he was unconscious, Griff determined by magical means that he wore a magical ring, and also magical armour. We also found two other rooms that seemed to be his office and chamber, and in his office we found a plan for the recent defensive changes to the tunnels here. We waited for him to come round, and then cross-examined him, starting with some confusion as we all looked like dog-headed humanoids to him. We assured him that we were actually humans, come to raid King Snurre. He said that his name was Ombi, and he was Prince of the dwarves – this matched what the dwarves we had stayed with had said, which is that their prince, called Ombi had been captured a century ago by the giants. The humanoids we had killed had been his guards – not in the sense of guarding him it seemed, but more as an honour guard. It seemed that he had been serving King Snurre as a military advisor all these years in order, he said, to stay alive. It seemed that he had been doing so more willingly and more comfortably than we might have expected from the tales that his people had told us of their relationships with the giants, and he was at a loss to explain why he had not used his ring, which could make him invisible, to just escape. We sensed that he might be identifying with his captors rather more than with his own people possibly. I suppose a century is a long time to be held captive, although I have heard of longer, and similar occasions where captives can become as their captors. We are certainly suspicious of his motives. To make sure of his loyalty, Jude has placed a compulsion on him to act as if he was one of our party and on our side. Still we need to be careful of him, and get to the bottom of this. If he is truly a captive, then mayhap the dwarves will be pleased to have him restored. If he has betrayed them, then I think I would not want to be in his shoes if we hand him over to them. In the meantime, I can use an illusion to make us look like his bodyguard, which may help us penetrate deeper into the lair more easily with him. 

Your ever loyal servant, 

Seedra

My Lord Wesloke, 

I write to you to give you a fuller account of the events of my mission to the elves of Trustor than could be given in the limited scope of the Sendings that I used during the mission. I write in haste, since I shall entrust this letter to an elven scout who will ride south to hand it to Aquilla, who I understand from Griff will be journeying to meet you at Shadowglen. You may rest assured though, that there will be an epic poetic version to come, which I am sure you will sleep through as normal when I recount it for the prince. 

I shall not bore you with the details of my journey from Sanctuary to Trustor, once I had re-equipped myself in Sanctuary, save to note that I saw much confusion and panic amongst the general population at the rumours of pestilence from Ranke. I made swift progress thanks to Florence, my new pegasus companion. Flying mounts are awesome, as I am sure you will agree. 

Florence also enabled me to avoid the outer snares and patrols of Trustor, which can be so tedious to avoid even if you can persuade the border patrols that you should be permitted entry, and so dangerous if not. I am sure my passage above the forest was also noted and followed, but the presence of a pegasus helped reassure any guardians that I had no evil intent, I am sure. Even pegasi cannot fly forever though, and I therefore was forced to land far short of my initial destination – the lands where my clan – clan Ayarvundii – dwelt. My landing was obviously not unobserved, but there are few guardians in the deep forest. The first elves that came upon me was a small party of goblins that attempted to steal from my saddlebags while I was watering Florence, but I spotted them before they could get the bags open. I bought them off with some minor trinkets and a bawdy song that I picked up in the Vulgar Unicorn many summers ago, and they seemed well satisfied with that. 

A few hours later, I noticed that I was being observed as I prepared some dinner. I called out a greeting in elven and showed that I was unarmed, and two scouts appeared. There were at least four others that I could feel still watching me from cover. I invited them to share my meal, and told them my name, clan and mission. They revealed that they were from clan Temanarii – a new clan that I was not aware of. I questioned this, and they recounted their generations to me, and I realised that when I left Trustor, only seven years ago, they had still be part of clan Eludinii, which I did remember. They told me that they had been sent to either kill me or bring me before their matriarch Temanara – it was up to me which option I preferred to take. 

Choosing the easy path, I put out my fire and made good the ground, then followed them on foot with Florence. Despite their best efforts, I could tell that they were in awe of the pegasus, and tried to get as close as possible to her. We arrived at their clan ring within a couple of hours – a beautiful grove of holmbeams, fresh with sap and spring growth as befits a young clan. I faced much questioning over my clan and generations, and I could tell that their elders were not satisfied with the answers that I gave. Suddenly I remembered all the pain of rejection from my childhood, and my resentment came flooding back. Knowing that acceptance would not be forthcoming here, I changed tack, and demanded the right of pradath-golema – the audience of peril. I might not be an elf, in their eyes at least, but I knew the customs and traditions of Trustor as well as any of them. 

Temanara accepted the plea, and I delivered the intelligence that we received in the letter that we found in the Jarl’s possessions, warning them that there was a threat of a fire giant attack upon the elven realms. They did not regard the warning as something that was relevant to them, as there were no fire giants that they knew of within a month’s march of Trustor, but they accepted that I was acting in good faith in bringing them this news, and granted me a token of aadith – safe passage through elven realms. I took the token and pinned it to my breast, despite the shame that I felt that I, who had been born amongst them, should need the token of a stranger to protect me in the forest that was my home once. They invited me to dine and rest with them, and promised the next day to direct me by the shortest route to clan Ayarvundii. I sang for them after we dined, and gave them songs of the warfare and troubles that we have seen in the last few years. I could tell that they were not pleased by news of such troubles beyond their lands, yet ever closer to them; but in my anger pleasing them was the last thing on my mind. They should know more of the outer world, before it comes crashing over them. 

The next day, I proceeded to my own clan, or rather the clan that I had once counted as my own. My reception here was as cold as I had feared it would be. My mother was, at least, pleased to see me, and relieved that I was still alive, but my brother and sisters made it plain that my absence was not regretted by then, and did not hide their pleasure when I told them my visit was but transitory. Ayarvunda was as stiff-necked and closed-minded as she has ever been, and dismissed my warning out of hand. A threat to an elven realm by fire giants almost certainly referred to the High Kingdom in her opinion, and they were well able to look after themselves. I saw that completing the second part of my mission would not be possible here, given the animosity against me, and so left after a single night, and decided to continue to Gilrath, and see what the circle of elders would say to me. 

Reaching Gilrath took another two days – I won’t bore you with further tales of passive hostility and grudging hospitality. At Gilrath, I once again pleaded pradath-golema, and was admitted. It was two days before the nine were all present though, but they then heard my warning, and also your plea for support, my lord. With the warning, they were more concerned than either Ayarvunda or Temanara had been, although they concurred that the High Kingdom was a more likely target and they resolved to send a warning to the High Kingdom of the intelligence received, without disclosing the source of the intelligence, lest the high elves disregard it on that basis. With regard to providing aid though, they were unwilling to do so. They had little appetite for involving themselves in the affairs of the lands outside Trustor, and while they remembered you and the prince, they had not met the new emperor and therefore were unable to enter into any sort of pact or agreement with him. As you suggested, I therefore proposed a pact of mutual regard between them and the prince, as he was someone that they had met, albeit that he was not able to present this petition in person, but had indeed sent a personal representative. This was not dismissed out of hand, and discussion of it proceeded into the next day, when we were interrupted by sudden news from the northern borders that, as I had warned, a force of fire giants had fallen upon the forest in a sudden attack. Swathes of the north were already ablaze, for it seemed that they were accompanied by a fire drake as well, but the northern clans, despite the suddenness of the onslaught, were rallying and ambushing the invaders wherever possible. Although my warning had not been heeded in time, it had at least brought the nine together, and so the forest could be awakened more quickly than the attackers might have hoped for or expected. The clans of the south and west were rapidly informed, and sent their war-bands north within hours, and we quickly heard reports that with the forest awakened, ents were now harrying the giants alongside elves. Goblins were dispatched to find where the fire giants had arrived from, and if possible, cut off their lines of retreat. By the afternoon, High Elven knights were arriving from the High Kingdom, and although this provided a potent reinforcement for our forces, it also meant that my presence was no longer welcome in the war-council. 

No longer having a purpose or even being welcome at Gilrath, I decided to fly north to join in the fighting there, alongside my clan. They might seek to disown me, but I would show them my worth. When I reached the fighting area though, I discovered that my clan ring, so full of beauty and vitality just a few days earlier, was just a blackened circle of stumps, and my clan not just scattered but sundered. Ayarvunda herself had died fighting with her daughters to defend the circle, and I wondered at the power of a group of giants that could defeat a wizard as powerful as Ayarvunda, supported by the power of a clan circle, although I heard that the fire drake itself had also come upon them. The next few days were a confused series of raids, ambushes and counter fights amongst burning glades or the smouldering ashes of once beautiful friends. But gradually we pushed the invaders back, and split them into several groups, until suddenly one night they all withdrew as rapidly as they could. Some vanished as completely as they had arrived, for the goblins had found no trace of their arrival path. Another group retreated over the mountains into Lammu, leaving a path that could be easily traced, but was hard for those on foot and of less stature to follow, and the ents were reluctant to leave Trustor. We discovered that this group had taken many captives with them, and so we resolved to follow them and attempt to rescue our kinsfolk. 

Before I left though, and while the high elves were busy reorganising their forces, I attended a hastily arranged meeting of the war-council. I bear their thanks to you and the prince for the warning that you endeavoured to give them, and their regret that they chose not to act upon it, although to be honest, any increased watch on the borders would have been little use against a force that appeared as suddenly as this had. The council were also more curious as to who this Eclavdra might be – the name has Elvish roots but is not an elvish name. It is the sort of name that one finds in fairy stories or ancient songs sung around the camp fire on fell nights of evil omen. The good news is that the council has resolved that there should be a mutual pact between the clans of Trustor as represented by the council and the prince, for he has shown that he will aid them, and therefore they will aid him in return. They see now that events in the outside world will affect Trustor even if Trustor does not wish to be affected, and isolation is not a policy that will win friends. Once the fire giants have been dealt with, they will place a force of five hundred rangers at his disposal. It is not an alliance with the emperor, but under the circumstances I hope you will agree that it is as good an arrangement as we could have hoped for. They promise to dispatch elders to you, my lord, to seal the pact and its terms. 

Now I must hasten, for we are splitting our ways. The fire giants have taken two paths, and my elven kin, including some of what I must think of as my new clan, Temulliii, are following the group that have the elven captives. I will lead the rest of the Silent Strike Force to follow the other group – I have tried to persuade some of the wood-elves to join us, but rescuing kin is their priority, and the high elves have told them that they should not be joining a group that is led by non-elves. At least I will now be with people that will talk to me other than giving me orders, or expecting me to wait on them. And the token I now bear is that of an elf-friend, rather than just a protected stranger. Fighting alongside them has raised me in their estimation, and while my new clan might still reject my inheritance, other clans are more open to accepting me for who I am, rather than rejecting me for what I am not. 

Your ever loyal servant, 

Seedra

My lord Wesloke,

As requested, I will be sending you periodic accounts of my investigations into giant activity in the Northlands, as ordered by General Vordenheim. I successfully located Lord Kurog, Thorg, Drogon, Griff and Aquilla despite them having vanished from Runsinane on some mad quest in the mountains, and escorted them to Harken as instructed by General Vordenheim in your letter. I was also able to communicate with Shadow, but she claimed to be on some sort of critical mission which had the potential to reveal secrets of great power, and refused to say where she was or join me. I recommend some sort of suitably severe punsihment when you do get your hands on her, possibly forfeiture of all her treasure and equipment to a more suitably loyal employee.

I met General Vordenheim and his troops at Harken, or rather the remains of Harken – I’m afraid the giants have made a bit of a mess of the town and most of the castle there. He was his usual charming self, and ordered us to leave as soon as possible to investigate the reports of a hill giant fort in White Wolf Pass. It may interest you to know that Lord Quarl was also at Harken in person – it looks like he left Ranke not long after I did, no doubt fleeing the plague. I kept well out of his way. Tangard, was also supposed to be there and leading a force against the eastern giants, but had not arrived by the time that we had to leave. Probably drunk in some brothel instead. I did see that Vordeck, his master of assassins, arrived just as we were leaving though, which never bodes well.

The journey past the Stone Tooth and into White Wolf Pass was uneventful – we borrowed a scout called Verdelain from Vordenheim who knew the lay of the land, but he left us after the first day. Something about obeying orders. As we entered the pass, I discovered giant tracks on the northern bank of the river – not hard, as they had made no effort to cover or disguise themselves at all. We decided to scout for a cave to leave the horses in amongst the foothills of the northern peaks, but in the process found a valley where a battle between some orcs and giants was taking place. At first the orcs seemed to be on the verge of destruction, but suddenly a second force of orcs, bearing an eye symbol and riding great wolves, appeared and fell upon the giants from the rear. They were led by a great orc riding upon a wyvern. The giants beat a rapid retreat, and the first tribe of orcs, whose symbol appeared to be a toothed maw, seemed to give alleigance to the newer tribe of orcs. From this I surmise that there is a hierarchy of power amongst the orc tribes of the area, and that there is an emnity between the orcs and the giants.

Travelling onwards, we finally sighted a mighty steading upon a low hill by the river, made of great tree trunks and at least eighty or ninety feet in height, like a vast longhouse. On one side was a watchtower, and great doors, and at the rear a walled pen or yard, from where the howling of many wolves came. The only method of ingress that we could see was the great doors at the front, and as we watched a giant went in through that route. I suggested that Drogon and I have a look inside on our own, without the less stealthy members of the group. Hastily, Griff cast a spell of invisibility on Drogon, and I on myself, and we, being the stealthiest and boldest of the party crept forward and through the crack in the incompletely closed great doors.

Within, we found a vast hall, lined with many cloaks and packs of giant size. We were fortunate, for, although there were two giant guards upon the door, they were both asleep in a drunken stupor. In the far corner were great steps up to the tower, which we climbed with much effort, especially Drogon. Indeed I pretty much had to carry him. At the top we found a further watchman, or watchgiant rather, also asleep. I latched his shoes together, and cast the beater for the warning gong over the side of the tower, to slow him down a bit if he wanted to ring it. If he leapt up and fell down stairs with his feet tied together in his alarm, then that would have been a bonus, but we were so stealthy that I think no alarm was raised, and so this cunning ruse went unused.

Returning to the entrance hall, we tried both the side doors with no success, for the latches were high up almost above our reach, and our strength was insufficent to move them. But, as we waited, a giant opened the central double doors. A wave of noisy merriment bellowed forth, so we slipped in through the closing door. Within was an even greater hall, lit by a vast fire, and with a ceiling supported on mighty wooden pillars that rose beyond our sight into the smoke. Fully two dozen or more crude giants were making merry there, alongside some other even taller giants – two with grey and smooth skin, two with fiery red hair, and skin as black as coals, and one, the tallest of all, in fine robes, and seemingly distainful of the riotous scenes before us. Indeed, I crept under his table and used magic to understand their speech, and learned that indeed the giant that ruled the festivities was Nosra, lord of these crude hill-dwelling giants, and that the tall and fair giant indeed found this crude merrimaking beneath his contempt.

There was little more that we could learn in this hall, for most of the giants were deep in their cups by now, and fights were breaking out between them. Fearing to be caught in such violence, even unseen, we crept through an open arch in the left hand wall, and into a great corridor. On the far side we discovered a great kitchen, staffed by not just giants, but also ogres in a menial role. Off an unused part of this kitchen, we found a giant pantry, and steps descending into the ground. Venturing below, for we had not realised that this dwelling had a cellar, we found three rooms guarded by bugbears and holding many orcish prisoners, no doubt captured in raids similar to the one that we had witnessed the previous day.

Ignoring these for the moment, we found a chamber with a well, and then also a forge underground, manned by two of the red-haired and black skinned giants, who seemed impervious to the heat of their great fire, as they worked iron into great cuirasses and mighty swords, we assumed for the giants above. Alas, before we could explore further, our shrouding spells expired, and I grabbed Fuzzyfeet and teleported us both out of the dungeon before we could be seen, so that there was no chance of them getting suspicious or raising the alarm.

Obviously this is an as-yet incomplete account but venture to suggest that the presence of many kinds of giants hints at a wider conspiracy. I shall investigate further.

Sentinel