On our last episode...

The three heroes arrived in Nightstone for a reconnaissance mission to find that the town was eerily quiet. Upon further inspection, the group found giant rocks strewn across the grounds and collapsed roofs all throughout the village. The quiet was broken up by the continuous ringing of the temple bell near the entrance of Nightstone.

The adventurer's made their way to the temple and proceeded to find it empty, albiet for two goblins in the belltower gleefully ringing a large bell. After a few moments of song and dance from Hob, the goblins realized they were being interrupted and attacked the group. After a thrilling battle that saw the bottom half of one of the goblins completely charred off, Ryu knocked the second goblin off the bell into an unconscious heap on the floor. When the goblin came to, the group threatened him to disclose the numbers of his goblin crew in Nightstone or face the same fate of his friend. It didn't take much to persuade him to shout 10 over and over again. The goblin dangled over the edge of the tower while the group tried to get more information out of him, but as soon as he began screaming in fear, an arrow shot from below and cut the rope holding him, causing the goblin to plummet to the floor to his death.

With the town now aware of the group's whereabouts, the adventurers quickly made their way to the nearby inn. Again, more destruction was evident as the inn's roof had a hole right through it. Hob heard shuffling in the back while investigating the main dining area. He discovered another goblin, with a rucksack nearly equal to her size, raiding the kitchen. As he tried to speak with her, the goblin ran toward the exit. Trapped at the doorway by Ryu and the druid, the goblin female charged with her sword. Before she had a chance to connect, an arrow hissed through from the 2nd floor and pierced her skull, instantly killing her.

Where did the arrow come from? The party searched the room and found a human woman named Kella Darkhope. She told the crew that she was a traveling merchant who made her living traveling from town to town. She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and was stuck in Nightstone during the giant attack. She was happy that the group was here to help her in her time of need, but the time was now to make it over to the keep to get some valuables, then make it back to the drawbridge and out of Nightstone before more giants arrived. Ryu and Hob were happy to oblige, but Zora felt that there was more to Kella than what she was letting on. However, Zora was outvoted on what to do and the party made their way over to the keep while on their way over, Zora had a change of heart and expressed her desire to clear the town of all goblin threats. The party did so while traveling to the keep. The keep of Nightstone had been cut off from the rest of the town by the giant attacks. The bridge had collapsed and there was no way to cross without making some kind of contraption. Kella put her skills to good use and helped the party make their way across before their makeshift bridge collapsed once again. Kella headed off to find a new bridge while the party made their way into the keep.

Once in the keep, the group found a dead woman of wealthy lineage lying on a table surrounded by 4 armored guards. The armored guards looked distraught and confused over what to do. They pleaded with the party to rid the town of threats and head north to bring back the people of Nightstone. The adventurers agreed to bring the village back.

As the party headed back, they saw that Kella had repaired the bridge enough so that everyone could cross over. She also noted that she killed the last of the 10 goblins in the village and that they were ready to head back out of town. Right before they reached the entrance, they saw a group of 7 riders on horseback charging towards the lowered drawbridge. Quickly, the group made their way over to the levers to raise the bridge, but right as they begun to do so, Ryu felt an arrowhead pointed at his skull and Hob turned to see a small dragon ready to attack Zora and him. "There's no need to raise the drawbridge any longer." Kella sneered while the drawbridge was lowered and the riders crossed over the bridge into Nightstone.

Kella revealed herself to be a member of the Zhentharim, the infamous group of nefarious criminals. Her group of riders were led by a half-elf named Xolkin and called themselves the Flying Snakes. The Flying Snakes captured the crew and let their wishes be known about using the town as their stronghold. Knowing that the town held 4 armored guards inside, the group led the 8 flying snakes over to the keep area where they waited for the snakes to split up before attacking them. The group showed no mercy as they killed Xolkin and won back control of Nightstone. The victory was short-lived however. When they made their way back to the drawbridge, they were welcomed by a fleeing group of Orcs.

The Orcs were large in numbers, led by an injured War Chief named Gurrash, the orcs made an attempt to regroup their forces at Nightstone. 20 orcs made their way across the drawbridge. Without enough time to raise the bridge, the adventurers hid near the opening of town. Thinking fast, Zora transformed into a rat and headed into the forest out of town where the orcs fled from. Hob and Ryu were forced to hide and retreat into the abandoned house nearest to the drawbridge.

Outside of town, Zora made her way into the forest and found a small band of elves pulling arrows out of dead orc bodies. After inquiring, Zora was led to a larger elf encampment where she met their dashing leader, a wood elf named Rond. While Rond explained he had no intention of helping the town of Nightstone or Zora's friends, his desire to kill the remaining orcs was too great to let the opportunity slip past him. He told his soldiers to prepare to storm the town.

Back in Nightstone, Hob and Ryu had little choice but to wait and see what the Orcs' plans were. As they waited, they watched the orcs break up into 8 groups of 2 and search the town in teams. They hid near the back entrance of the abandoned house and waited while 2 orcs came in to search the premises. Right as the orcs made their way through the back door, Hob quickly disguised himself as a goblin and protected Ryu from having to battle. The advantage was short lived though, since the orcs led Hob away into the town square.

Though neither Hob nor Ryu could discern what the orcs were saying, they knew it couldn't be good. The orcs yelled and pointed at things while Hob did his best to maintain his deception. Gurrash and his lieutenant made their way over to Hob and looked him over with scrutiny. With a doubtful eye, Gurrash looked straight at Hob and said in common language "I will kill your friends." That was all Ryu needed to hear to help his friend. Ryu charged at the orcs in the town square with his quarterstaff in hand and the battle began.

Ryu and Hob were severely outnumbered and it showed. Ryu focused his energy on his defensive stance to account for the swords pointing his way. Hob was not so lucky, since he was already in a disadvantageous position. Gurrash and his lieutenant slashed at the defenseless bard, bloodying him and nearly killing him in the process. Ryu magnificently dodged and thwarted the incoming blades, but it appeared that it wouldn't be enough to save Hob. But, just as it looked as if all was hopeless, arrows flew through the air and hit the orcs stationed at the guard towers nearby. The thud of the orc bodies hitting the floor signaled that help had arrived!

Rond, Zora, and the rest of the wood elves made their way and quickly eviscerated the remaining orc army. The injured Gurrash was no match for the cunning Rond. Before Rond killed him, the party had one last attempt to gain any knowledge from him. Gurrash was uncompromising in defeat and in one action, Rond beheaded the war chief. Before anyone had the chance to thank the elves, they were already riding across the drawbridge and out of Nightstone. Rond yelled out "You're Welcome!!" as he and his army disappeared into the forest.

Without wasting much time, the party raised the drawbridge and made their way back into the empty tavern to rest up their wounds. While asleep, Zora was awoken to the sound of rustling in the room. She discovered that a mercenary named Antonio Demarco had somehow made his way into Nightstone. He explained that he was looking for valuables to sustain his way of living. He also offered his services for hire. Though doubtful at first, Zora quickly became enamored with Antonio's charm. Hob and Ryu awoke a short time later and everyone agreed to hire Antonio to join them for the next leg of their travels. The party found that they couldn't remember which way to go to bring back the people of the town. They arrived back at the keep to find the armed soldiers unscathed and unaware of any battles that took place. They directed the party north once more.and the adventurers shortly headed off in that direction.

After traveling for nearly an hour, they came accross a network of caves long a hillside. One in particular, had recent foot tracks leading into the mouth of the cave. The adventurers were about to head right in when Antonio stopped them and pointed out that the footprints were those of orc boots.

As the group cautiously approached the cave, Hob stepped forward and yelled "hello!!!" into the unknown depths of the cavern. Immediately a battle sprung forth and the group was engaged with the cave's inhabitants.

5 Goblins manned different stations around the large main room of the cavern. Taking a bath in a pool of mud was a large Ogre. Ryu charged after the ogre while the rest of the group did their best to take out the goblin archers. In the middle of the battle, Antonio heard the goblins talking about alerting an Ogre in the center of the room, surrounded by a large natural rock formation. With her mighty Thorn Whip, Zara was able to keep the goblins at bay and keep them from the center of the cavern. Ryu engaged the ogre in a tough battle, and in the end was victorious with the help of Hob.

After the battle, the group did their best to remain quiet and look for the most likely path the villagers would have taken. Antonio suggests to the team to search the furthest tunnels and everyone did just that. One of the back tunnels, the found, led to a room with naturally elevated rock patterns, almost resembling an amphitheater center. They found the villagers here, quiet and afraid. Zara sensed the presence of thousands of bats below the medium sized hole in the middle of the room. Without alerting the bats, the villagers were narrowly rescued by the heroes, as Zara stealthed them to safety.

Back near the entrance to the main room, a dwarf named Morak implored the heroes to rescue a woman who was recently taken away by goblins, Daphne Featherstone. Antonio was tasked with leading the villagers quietly out of the cave and keeping watch over them while Daphne was rescued. Zara also made an arrangement with the dim-witted cave bats to protect the villagers as well.

Taking the opposite tunnel accross from the bat cave, the crew made their way over to Daphne's likely whereabouts. On the way over, the group met a goblin named Snigbat. Rather than attack or alert other goblins, Snigbat attempted to make a deal with the adventurers to overthrow the current goblin boss, Hark. The heroes did so in exchange for guaranteed safe passage and no further harm to the villagers in the future.

Deeper into the cave they went and there they found Hark along with two other goblins and 7 giant rats. The giant rats were tearing apart the carcass of a human. OH no! Was this Daphne? Leaving no room for negotiation, Hob charged forth with a fury and unleashed an impressive burst of lightning energy, frying all the rats to bits, killing the two goblin underlings, and knocking Hark unconscious. Hob, dizzy with the amount of power exerted, took a small break while Ryu and Zara checked Hark's cave.

They were relieved to find Daphne alive, tied up in a holding area. After expressing her gratitude for being rescued, she explained that the carcass in the middle of the room belonged to Darthag Ulgar. Before leaving the cave, the group moved aside a bolder uncovering the spoils of Hark's treasure. There, they also found a spear with a unique ability to grant it's owner a meal to remind them of home. Once the treasure was taken, Ryu propped Daphne up over his shoulder, patted her butt and joined the group out of the room. They found Snigbat and pointed him in the direction of Hark. It was his task to deal with Hark's end and his alone.

There was only one thing standing in between the heroes and freedom, the main room of the cave.

Snigbat had explained prior that the ogre in the middle of the cave was the mate of the fallen ogre. Thogg, the ogre remaining, was more fearsome than her mate and more formidable in combat. As much as the adventures tried to maintain their silence, Thogg awoke and found her fallen love near the pool of mud. She howled in anger and turned around just in time to see the three heroes coming at her.

The battle with Thogg was a memorable one. Thogg's strength towered over her dead lover. She was no match though for the power that was to be unleashed. Reaching deep into her ties with nature, Zara transformed into a massive brown bear. Claws unleashed, she charged at Thogg and tore into her disgusting skin. Thogg and Zara traded blows while Ryu staggered her and Hob poked at her long enough to take her down. With no other formidable foes left, the group left the cave, joined Antonio and the villagers, and set off back to Nightstone.

A much needed rest was taken. The group then awoke upstairs at Nightstone Inn. Hob and Ryu came downstairs to an empty tavern, with the exception of a lone dwarf drinking in a dim light. Morak, the villager they met earlier, was a dwarf who came to Nightstone 60 years ago. As the owner of the Nightstone Inn, he had seen many travelers and heard many tales. He told Hob and Ryu about the giant attack. He admired Hob's resolve and impressive feat in battle, as well as Ryu's appreciation for a good drink. Morak asked the group to deliver a message of his dear friend Darthag Ulgar's death to Darthag's ex-wife in Triboar. Zara and Antonio joined Ryu and Hob in considering the request. Antonio informed the group that he would part ways with them for now and the intrigued adventurers willingly accepted Morak's quest.

Later on that day, the adventurers headed south towards Triboar. They traveled for a day and camped out. Zara noticed Hob sadly looking at an empty bowl of food before he mimicked eating it. When asked about it, Hob's demeanor quickly changed and he was happy again. Zara couldn't help but notice that there was a bit of sadness still left in his voice.

While traveling the next day, the adventures came upon a most curious sight. A large floating tower appeared and headed towards them. The tower was a massive white structure, accentuated by the largest wizard's cap anyone had ever seen sitting on the very top of the roof. The tower stopped above the adventures and a cloud stairwell began to descent from the sky. Seeing no other choice but to investigate, Ryu led the team up about 1000 feet to the tower's entrance. A nearly 200 foot doorway stood in front of them. They entered to find themselves looking like ants compared to the giant-sized furniture standing in front of them. Before they had a chance to really take stock of the room, a dark-skinned cloud giant appeared in front of them! The eccentric looking figure smiled and gestured towards them as he screamed out:

"OOOO yes! I am so glad you have come! Welcome ... to MY HOME!"

The heroes were welcomed to the tower by its host, an eccentric cloud giant named Zephyros. Zephyros explained to the group that the wind foretold of their journey and that it was his duty to seek them out and meet them on his own. Zephyros admired the spunk of the group and gladly accepted the request to explain the recent happenings of the giants.

Long ago, the giants' god and All-Father Annam set up an Ordning, or order of the giants. The Ordning lasted for centuries until the recent dragon problem that was solved by a group of small creatures. Angry at his people for not coming to the aid of the small folk and facing the true enemies of the giants, Annam shattered the Ordning, thereby creating a new power struggle between all giant races. No longer ranking at the top of the giant order, the Storm Giants also had other issues on their hands as their queen was found dead and their king was presumably kidnapped. Zephyros told the group that the winds spoke to him and said they would be the ones to restore the order back to the giant community.

Overwhelmed by the thought of confronting dragons and giants, the group settled into their sleeping accomodations as Zephyros offered to give them a ride on his cloud tower to their next destination, Triboar. On the second day of traveling by tower, the adventurers were greeted by a cultist group clad in black and flying on the backs of giant black vultures. The riders demanded to speak to Zephyros right away.

The riders told Zephyros claimed to speak for a man named Yan-C-Bin. They would not divulge much information, only that Yan-C-Bin wished for Zephyros to help them return the world to its primordial state. They offered Zephyros a gift in the form of pixie dust. Zephyros accepted the bag from the cultists. Though the adventurers immediately recommended that Zephyros not follow the cultist's request, Zephyros decided to seek advice from the farplane and set off to his room on the 2nd floor. After a few odd sounds, the group noticed no activity upstairs. A rider flew up to the 2nd floor and reported that Zephyros was not respondent. The cultilts made their way outside to wait for the giant while Zora turned into a centipede and - after much effort - made her way upstairs. She arrived to find Zephyros in a catatonic state. Why, this could only be the work of that powder that was given to Zephyros by the cultists!!

After making her way through all of Zephyros's orifices, she came to the conclusion that Zephyros had a negative reaction to the spell he case to communicate across to another plane. The group had no choice but to wait for Zephyros to wake up.

6 hours later, Zephyros awoke and made his way back to the groups. He advised that he would not be aiding the cultists, to which they angrily chastised him. Before the culstists left; however, the group inquired about a magic bag that was in the possession of their captain, Amarath. Zephyros motioned to the bag and it was then that a mysterious energy possessed the room and spoke to the team in whispers. They adventurers had 2 options: fight the unknown enemy or agree to part off in peace. After opting for peace, the entity and the cultists flew away, leaving with the bag. Zephyros gleefully gave the bag of pixie dust and and old bag of holding he had in his collection the adventurers, as he went back upstairs to rest while the group continued on their way.

The next 10 days were uneventful. The adventurers were nearing their destination and all was going well ... until a silver dragon with armored dwarves arrived.

The armored dwarves aggressively marched inside the tower and dismissed the groups efforts to stay at bay. The dwarves explained that they were members of the Lord's Alliance, and that their mission was to rid the world of evil giants. Though he tried to speak with the silver dragon to negotiate the attack off Zephyros, Ryu was unable to articulate how much Zephyros had hepted them and that he was no evil giant. The dwarves swiftly made their way from the bottom floor into Zephyros's quarters. Worried that Zephyros would be hurt or worse, Hob jumped on Zora's back and was transported to Zephyros's quarters on floor 2. As the dwarves were prepared to strike, Hob reached out and gave a passionate speech about good and evil, effectively convincing the dwarves that Zephyros had no ill intent and needed not to be killed. The dragon and dwarves left. Zephyros gave the group his heartfelt thanks and everyone went to sleep for the evening. Their Triboar destination was only one day away.