| Session Date | July 15, 2022 |
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| Base XP Gained | 8486 |
Continuing their explorations, the party now turned north, where Bel and Jarrik fell into a very deep pit. They hit water below (hard). Worse, Bel was overcome by weariness and fell into a deep sleep. Fortunately, Jarrik had a ring of swimming and was able to rescue her before she drowned. Eventually the party was able to drop them a long line to haul them up the 80’ feet or so. ZZ then tried to dispel magic on the sleepiness since Bel would not awake. Th first failed but the second succeeded in awakening her, much to her initial annoyance (she claimed to have had vivid and pleasant dreams of a great woodland feast).
Beyond the trap they found a round room with a roof domed and painted to represent a bright, midday sky. In the center was a statue of a male centaur with a serene gaze. ZZ took the opportunity to cast detect traps. Also, one of the Elves sensed a secret door, which led to a narrow ledge and bright sunlight. From the hidden alcove in a cliff face the party found precarious handholds leading to the valley floor some 80’ below.
Passing through an oddly-shaped hall with a Medusa statue, they came to another round, domed room, this one painted to represent a sunset glow on clouds and a dryad statue with a mirthful expression (every once in a while the statue seemed to move slightly at the corner of one’s eye).A short passage to the north guarded by a pit trap had a pedestal of stone atop which sat a 2’ high pale green egg painted with red runes of unknown nature. A carving on the pedestal read “Do not touch.” Undeterred, Burt cast unseen servant and sent it to touch the egg. The moment it did so, the egg began to roc and soon cracked open, revealing a hideously ugly chick of rather large size. It chirped piteously in hunger. Hans threw it some food and, moments after swallowing it, the chick grew rapidly into a Type I Demon. A melee ensued, but the thing was rather easily dealt with by the party, Burt striking the coup de gras.
Moving on, the party came to a plain, octagonal room with words carved on the southern wall reading:
“Everywhere it can be found, but never seen
May be enslaved, but is forever free
Has no throat, but speaks aloud”
The party discussed this a bit until Atticus tried to answer with “Wind.” This seemed to be correct, as the wall opened at the word to reveal a cloudy blue sky with no apparent ground in sight and a pleasant breeze blowing inward. There was no sun visible but all was lit; leading out into the clouds was a barely visible, transparent path perhaps 3’ wide heading off into the distance. Atticus turned into an eagle to scout this and, after several miles of flying, came to a mighty castle nestled upon a cloud, clearly the abode of giants. Returning to report, the party took reasonable precautions and began to follow the path to the castle.
They found the castle to be seemingly deserted until they came into its vast Great Hall, where a single Storm Giant sat atop a throne, seemingly lost in sad consideration. He was named Helias and claimed that he and his folk were victims of a terrible curse from one of the great Lords of the Air. His people had been turned into wisps of cloud and wind. Only a certain glass globe could free them, but that item was guarded by a powerful dragon that never slept. The party offered to recover it, much to the Giant’s great happiness. He did strenuously warn them, though, that the globe must NOT be broken or the curse would become permanent. The party opted to rest a night in Helias’ castle.
The next morning, the giant summoned several Rocs for the party to ride to the dragon’s lair. The creatures took the party a goodly distance, landing them on a solid cloud across which was a funnel-like cave near the apex of which rested an immense Blue Dragon. Atticus tried a potion of blue dragon control which, while somewhat effective, was somewhat stymied by what was apparently magical compulsion over the dragon to guard the glass globe, which sat directly behind it. A parley ensued which, while ultimately led to nothing, allowed Atticus to approach the Dragon and eventually get behind it to scoop the globe up in a bag of holding (I forget details of the parley, but I do recall it being rather fun in its way!). A battle followed and, at the end, the dragon was slain, disappearing in a puff of mist. The triumphant party rode the Rocs back to the cloud castle of Helias.
The giant was ecstatic when the globe was handed off to him. He looked at it a moment, then smashed it to the floor. Instantly, a great many giant (and other) courtiers appeared. Helias ordered a feast of celebration and invited the party to attend, which they happily did. The food and wine flowed freely, and the entire experience was both exquisite and surreal for the party. As the feast progressed, Helias offered the party two choices of reward, a number of gifts or his services in the future. The party opted for the gifts, which proved to be both plentiful and kingly! The party slept a second night in the castle after the feast (moving on after all of that would’ve been difficult!).
Following the almost invisible path back to the dungeon, the party continued their explorations. West, they found a third dome room, this one painted to show a night sky with a slender, crescent moon. In the center of the room was a Satyr statue with an iron spear right through is torso. The party ended up leaving the spear behind (don’t recall all that happened there) and turned south. They eventually came to an amphitheater room with a pit at the bottom center. There, the Elves sensed a secret door below. Atticus in rat form went down to follow the passage beyond it and ran into a Wraith! He fled before the thing could strike him; happily, it did not pursue too far…