Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2197202" data-attributes="member: 1210">Deeper into the UnderdarkDeeper into the Underdark our heroes go, until they start to hear a loud CRACK! ahead in the distance.  Irregular, not always exactly the same, but coming over and over again nonetheless; and as our heroes move cautiously forward, they begin to discern that it is the sound of rock impacting upon rock.  Very nervously, our heroes move forward yet further, closing on the sounds.  As the distance narrows, Federico offers to creep ahead and take a quick look; and when he returns he reports that it is a giant making the noise by hurling rocks at one another!  It seems an aimless game, yet our heroes are reluctant to take it at face value.  So they move forward with all due caution.The giant is male, hairless, unarmed (as near as our heroes can tell).  His skin is slate-grey, and he is much, much bigger then even the tallest human. As our heroes come close enough to get a good look at him, they are surprised to find that he is weeping, with his head in his hands.”Hey, don’t cry!” exclaims Federico.  “Here, Mr. Giant, look at me!”  And the kobold begins japing and jawing, making goofy faces, juggling stones and going into slapstick antics.  The giant looks up, drooling a little, and after just a moment he seems to forget his cares, laughing uproariously and slapping his knees.Soon communication is established between the giant and our heroes, though it is all translated through Naomi and Achtung and their knowledge of Undercommon; no one in the party speaks his native tongue, Giant, and he rapidly demonstrates that he’s not exactly the brightest.  With the kind of sensitivity he typically shows, Sandy finally asks Hortense, “Hey, is this guy a ‘tard?”She huffs, a little offended.  “Well, he does seem a little slow...”Indeed, when asked what he’s doing and where he lives, the giant (who reveals that his name is Granite) gets confused, eventually leading our heroes to believe that he is lost, he’s not supposed to be out alone, and his people live in a hidden cave.  Our heroes, largely of good heart, talk it over and decide to help him find his way home.  “Maybe his parents will reward us,” suggests Federico.Beau scoffs.  “Or maybe they’ll try to eat us, or kill us to prevent us from telling anyone where their hidden lair is.”Granite is indeed mentally retarded, and he gets frustrated easily.  Unfortunately, being a stone giant, when he gets angry he has the potential to collapse most of the tunnels our heroes are in.  They therefore take care to ensure that he doesn’t get worked up, with Federico more than anyone else keeping Granite occupied and amused.  At one point, as they search for the stone giant lair, a terrible thought occurs to Naomi.  What if the giants turned him loose because he was unfit or something? she wonders.  What if they don’t want him back?  The thought that returning with Granite might anger his tribe haunts her until they reach the giants. When they reach the secret stone giant cave, Hiddenstone, puzzling out their path from what they can elicit from Granite, our heroes are worried at what reaction they will receive; but they are treated with grace and courtesy, and Granite’s parents are relieved to have him back.  The giants feed our heroes a curious meal of fungi and deep dwelling creatures, and in the morning the party resumes their descent (the trip to Hiddenstone had reversed several hours of their progress).A strange ball of fungus, easily 10’ is diameter, assails the party as they travel.  It is dangerous, squirting out a cloud of spores that infest our heroes, leaving them sickened and blinded; but the party prevails, with Federico finally popping it with his wand of magic missiles.  After the fungus-ball is defeated, our heroes hole up for a few days to recuperate, as several of them were badly infested by the spores.“The Underdark is dangerous,” commendts Hortense at one point.  Beau responds, “Not as dangerous as the jungle.  It killed Timothy!”  Our heroes have a moment of silence for poor dead Timothy.***8/14/369 O.L.G., 4 p.m., Dyshim’s UnderdarkA 1000-yard long, kidney-shaped cave with a clean water source (a hot spring, in fact) serves as the home to a thriving trade community.  Signs posted in Undercommon at all three entrances to the place spell out the rules: all weapons to be peace bonded, all casters’ fingers to be bound likewise.  No combat is permitted within the confines of the trading post cavern.  Our heroes peace bond themselves and move into the trading post, which seems to have five buildings set up: a mapmaker, an armorer, a jeweler, a general store and an alchemist.  A number of different, unsettling shoppers are wandering through the community.The first thing Martini does is invest in a good map.  It indicates a good number of interesting-looking sites, including kuo-toa, troglodytes, an undead city...“Hey, look!” he exclaims, spying something very interesting indeed.  “C’mere, guys, check this out!”The others hustle over and look at where Martini’s finger is pointing.Deep Halflings“Oh my,” murmurs Naomi.The party has to make their own camp; there are no accomodations set up for visitors.  After buying and selling a variety of items from the various merchants of the trading post, our heroes talk about what to do next. “We should go get paid first,” suggests Federico.  “I mean, we’ve done what we said we would for the dwarves.  Now we should get paid!”“That’s a good idea, but I would like to check out these deep halflings,” says Sandy.  “Me too,” agrees most of the party.  “Get paid first.”  Chief Jawbreaker nods.  “So let’s rest a night here first,” whines Federico.  “One of the guys over there has the best rotting fish treats!”Next Time: On their way out our heroes encounter a band of trouble!</blockquote>

Verification