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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1537089" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Three, “Entry Strategies”, February 17th, 1020:Gesturing to the giant, the Lordholder states, “My friend is from a mountainous area of southeastern Kralt, not far from the border to the East Lordholding.   He arrived here a few days ago with information about the archon’s whereabouts.”    Looking towards the giant, Cassie says to him in the language of the Stone Giants “Please sir, tell us your story.”The giant states, “The stone giant cavern was home to me and three of my friends.   We thought it was well hidden and easy to defend, but this dog-like creature and his army still manged to invade.    The giant guarding the area near the bridge was incinerated by the creature whose forces then overran our cavern.   We fought hard but were overwhelmed by the greater numbers.   I survived only due to my ability to blend into walls, staying in one place until I had an opportunity to get away.  My friends were not as fortunate."“I am sorry for your loss,” Cassie states.   A long period of silence follows, until the giant finally says “I am told that you can help rid my home of this vermin.”   “It’s what we do best,” Alton states.   “Can you describe the layout of your home to us?” Lannon asks.   The Kralt Lordholder says, “We can provide you with much more than that.  One of my monks is a skilled cartographer and has been working for several days now in making a detailed map of the caverns.”They are led over to a table in the corner of the room where a full-color map has been laid out.  [Note: The map shown to them is the “Map of Mystery” from page #47 of Dungeon Magazine #108]The ‘Stone Giant Caverns’ are comprised primarily of one very large chamber that is roughly a diagonal oval 100x300 feet in size with stones of various size breaking up the formation.  Off from it are several more smaller chambers, one of which is identified as being the ‘Chieftan’s Cave’.   “The leader is probably holed up in there,” Luekia comments.   There appears to be only one main entranceway, with a rope and stone bridge leading to it across a chasm.   On the lair side of the bridge is a large grassy ledge, roughly 80x100 feet in size,  From this ledge are two stone caves with staircases up into the main lair.   Also higher up along the chasm wall is a smaller sentry ledge that looks out over the bridge.   Lannon comments, “That will probably be too well defended.  We should look for another way in.”  “Tell us about this underground river?” Luekia asks the giant.    He explains that it flows from the east and passes by a side chamber of the lair, which is where the lair gets its water.   “Could we swim in?” Luekia asks.   The giant replies, “Probably not, it is totally underwater for over a half-mile leading to the liar.   That was how I escaped, but I can hold my breath for up to half-an-hour.”  “I think we can handle that one,” Cassie comments asking, “What exactly is located at that point the half-mile west?”   He replies, “Just a ledge along the river to come up for air, then it goes underwater again for nearly a mile.”   Cassie asks Alton “Do you still have that amulet of ESP?”   He indicates that he does and hands it to her.   She explains to the giant that she needs him to visualize in his mind the ledge a half-mile west of the lair for her to capture that image in order to be able to teleport there.   He shows reluctance to having his mind probed, but the Lordholder assures him, “It’s safe and she can be trusted.  She’s only going to draw from you your surface thoughts, not what is deeper in your mind.  Think only of the destination itself and that is all she will see.”  The giant does as instructed and she focuses on the amulet’s power for a few minutes then says, “Okay, got it.  Thanks.”  Looking back at the map Timothy comments “What is this large pit in the center of the main room?”   The giant replies “It goes deep down to the center of the earth.  We use it to get rid of our trash.”   Alton comments, “We should be careful of it.  You never know what this celestial may have pulled out from down there.”Cassie asks the monk, “Did you find out anything about this hound archon’s powers?”   He replies, “The creature can send flames from his hands.  He apperat o have immunity to flames and like all celestials is partial immunity to other types of attack.   He can mimic some spell abilities.  He can assume the form of any canine, and like druidic transformations, gains partial healing with each transformation.”   Alton says, “Yeah, I saw that one.  I hit him with a powerful missile weapon last time, but he got better by changing into a funky dog.”  The monk says, “Well, according to his followers he carries a deep visible scar on his head from that encounter, so he is not totally invulnerable.”  Alton replies, “Damn, I knew I should have shot him again.”The monk wishes them luck and the giant thanks them for attempting to rid his home of this vermin.   Cassie has the group gather into two of the party’s bags of holding, and she then teleports away to the location derived from the giant’s thoughts.</blockquote>

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