Under Jorgenfist, Part 3 (Thursday, Abadius (I) 16th, 4708 AR)
The heroes continued their exploration below Jorgenfist.
This entrance at first seemed empty, but in fact the stone giant elder Conna waited to intercept the heroes here, hidden in the side cave near the brazier. Conna was an old, angular giant. She wore heavy bearskins over her shoulders, and a spear rested by her side. When she spotted the heroes, she stepped out of hiding and held out her hands to them, palms up.
Conna had heard about the raid on Sandpoint, and since the heroes were known to be approaching Jorgenfist, she awaited their arrival. When she saw the heroes, she furtively attempted to contact them, speaking in Giant. When the heroes agreed to hear what she had to say, she was quick and to the point.
"I don't have much time, but know that if you are here to slay Mokmurian, I am your ally. Come with me to a place we can speak in peace, for I would aid you in your quarrel here - without my assistance you might find only your graves below Jorgenfist." When the heroes accompanied her, she led them to the shrine of her ancestors to finish her conversation with them in the presence of her ghostly husband.
Shrine of the Ancestors. The walls of this cave were painted with red, yellow, brown, and black figures, among which were apparent images of giants, mammoths, elk, deer, and wyverns. Others were harder to figure out: ogres, perhaps, or giant children, or even humans. The dwarves were very clear, with beards and tiny axes being crushed under enormous giant feet. A simple oil lantern lit a small altar at the far end of the cavern. A modest offering of antlers, hooves, and patches of fur had been piled in front of the altar.
This small shrine was dedicated to the stone giants' ancestral spirits. Mokmurian sacrificed Vandarrec, the father of his old tribe, in this chamber. The now-deposed mother of his tribe, Conna, has tended to this shrine since Mokmurian's blasphemous sacrifice, and only she knew that it was her husband's spirit that haunted this chamber. The other giants had learned to avoid this cave due to the haunt.
Conna's presence soothed the angry spirit, and as long as she was in this room, the haunt did not manifest beyond periodically animating one of the cave paintings so that it appeared to dance just at the corner of the viewer's eye. Conna explained to the heroes what happened to her husband here several years ago, then went on to explain that Mokmurian's minions avoided this cave because of the haunting. Since Vandarrec's spirit remained quiet in Conna's presence, this was a perfect place to have a brief meeting with the heroes about their common problem - Mokmurian.
Although few visited here, Conna remained nervous and rushed. She asked the heroes why they had come to Jorgenfist, and did her best to convince them that slaying Mokmurian was the solution to their problems. She told the heroes that Mokmurian spent almost all of his time in the library level below this one, and she drew the heroes a rough map of the caves, suggesting they approached the tyrant trolls from the west rather than the north - even though that route was longer, there were fewer perils along the way. She requested that if the heroes encountered any more stone giants, they defeat the giants without killing them, if possible, but understood when some of them had little interest in complying - her kin, in her mind, had brought this doom upon themselves through their own actions.
Conna did not accompany the heroes, mostly out of stubborn respect for her traditions - once a giant elder had been deposed, that elder must not directly oppose the new ruler. Yet she was comfortable answering questions about the surrounding caverns, and she agreed to cast spells on heroes.
Before she parted ways with the heroes, Conna grudgingly told them one more thing. She feared that Mokmurian had fallen under the influence of a powerful evil spirit indeed - one of the Ancient Lords themselves. She had heard him whisper a name when he felt he was alone. The name was "Karzoug", a name Conna recognized from secret myths shared by the elders. Karzoug was one of those who enslaved her people, and if Mokmurian had fallen victim to this Ancient Lord's influence, the danger facing her people and all of Varisia may be greater than anyone knew.
Most of the stone giants Mokmurian recruited from his old tribe lived on the surface as part of the Jorgenfist army - these caves were used primarily for workshops and barracks for commanders in his army. Mokmurian had forbidden most of the rank-and-file giants of his army (including those from his old tribe) entrance into these caves. The pit guardians reported to Galenmir, whom the heroes had already killed, the general of Mokmurian's army. The caves were on alert.
Cave of the Dire Bears. Three dire bears lived in this cave. Trained, in theory, to guard the entrance, the bears actually spent much of their time sleeping. Since the alarm was raised, a giant would make sure to rise the bears.
The General's Lair. This cavern was the home of Galenmir, Mokmurian's general, second-in-command of his army and one of the oldest giants to submit to Mokmurian's rule.
Kitchen. A large firepit burned and crackled in the eastern part of this cave, with an iron cauldron hanging over the flames from a frame of tree trunks. Kitchen supplies sized for giants sat along the southern wall, including buckets of water, wooden trenchers for food, and gallon-sized mugs.
This room was always occupied, even late at night, by Grumelda the watcher, a female stone giant with a particular knack for preparing bland food. She kept the fire burning at all hours; the heroes had already killed her.
Enga's Cave. Enga Keckvia was the kobold the heroes already killed. Enga's role was twofold. Her primary job was to guard the small passage from vermin or other intrusions. Two or three times a week, she made forays into the tunnels to hunt down and kill the vermin that grew within. Her other job was to serve as liaison between the giants and the tribes of redcaps that dwelt deep in the caves (in the small tunnels). The giants did not enjoy the redcaps' company overmuch, but although they lived in close proximity, they didn't have overlapping territories. Periodically, Mokmurian demanded tributes and favors from the redcaps, and at these times, Enga became his messenger and collector.
Tannery. A trio of ogres, kept docile and loyal via a combination of threats and abuse from the lamias and, periodically, Mokmurian himself, toiled here daily to supply leather and furs for the growing army above.
Armory. The walls of this room had been chiseled away and made almost regular. Four anvils stood in the middle of the room, while to the south burnt a bright forge fire. Immense bellows stood near a row of low iron cages, each featuring a filthy mound of straw. The bellows' handles extended through the cages, allowing anyone imprisoned within to work the bellows without the necessity of leaving their confines. To the north, mounds of steel and the broken and bent pieces of a dozen weapons awaited work.
Most of the weapons and armor being forged for the coming war were created elsewhere, either in the surrounding camps or at tribal forges in the Iron Peaks (as in the case of the Kreeg clan). This forge was concerned mostly with repairing broken or damaged weapons.
Two stone giant smiths worked here, repairing the broken weapons almost as fast as they were coming in. The heroes killed one of them, while they incapacitated the second. The cages near the bellows contained five dwarven prisoners, all of whom were not immediately recognizable as dwarves, as the giants had shaved off their beards for the sport of it. The prisoners were all exhausted, but when freed, they grabbed up extra weapons and eagerly joined the fight against the giants.
Pit Guardian Barracks. The four pit guardians slept here.
Chamber of the Sihedron. Although the original purpose of this room was lost to the ages, the carvings of the Sihedron Rune made it a perfect place for Mokmurian to use as an indoctrination chamber. He, his lamia minions, and a particularly vile giant named Lokansir, the caretaker of this room, took time to run each of his new recruits through a grueling ritual in which their minds were assaulted, their bodies purified, and their flesh branded with the Sihedron Rune. These giants believed this ritual was merely symbolic of joining Mokmurian's army.
Among the giants of the Storval Plateau periodically rise those who are greater than their kin. In these giants, the ancient magic of Thassilon still runs strong in their thews and blood, resulting in particularly powerful members of an already mighty race.
The nomadic hill giant Lokansir was one of these Thassilonian scions. Lokansir had become Mokmurian's closest and most trusted ally. He had decorated his shoulders and arms with Thassilonian runes.
Dragon Captives. Two red dragons were being kept there for eventual sacrifice - each dragon had already been marked with the Sihedron Rune. Since branding worked poorly on creatures immune to fire, Mokmurian marked the dragons by etching the star into a large scale on the back of each of their heads.
When they were first captured by Mokmurian and Longtooth several weeks ago, these two dragons fought tenaciously. They were subdued nonetheless, bound in iron, and hauled back here, where Lokansir aided in preparing the dragons for sacrifice. The lamias then befriended the dragons. The dragons now viewed the lamias as their mistresses and wore the Sihedron Rune with pride.
Cavern of the Lamias. This cavern had been claimed by the lamias that served Mokmurian as advisors and aided him in whatever way they could.
In the meantime, the lamias had transformed this cavern into a cathedral that was dedicated to the Mother of Monsters, Lamashtu. Two lamias dwelt here, Seleval and Zaelsar.
Tyrant Trolls. Behind hanging furs, the walls were riddled with 1-foot-wide openings that looked into larger caves beyond. If the furs were pulled aside, these gaps were plainly visible.
A pair of rather violent, stupid trolls stood guard there. They were once servants to the stone giant tribe of Kavarvatti, and Mokmurian now paid them poorly (but enough to keep their interest) to guard the entry tunnel to the Library of Thassilon itself. They kept guard in shifts, with one always peering through the cracks between the walls and hanging furs while the other one slept.
Library Tunnel. From the tyrant trolls, a 10-foot-wide tunnel wound down through the bedrock in a corkscrew for several hundred feet before the walls changed to regular worked stone and the tunnel arrived at the entrance to an ancient library that had survived since Thassilonian times. This level was about 800 feet below ground. Fear of Mokmurian and the strange monsters that guard the lower level should prevent the denizens of the pits and caverns from pursuing foes down this tunnel.
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