{"id":162,"date":"2019-07-14T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-14T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/141.148.246.190\/index.php\/single-post\/the-giants-gamble-pt-21\/"},"modified":"2022-05-19T14:23:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T13:23:54","slug":"the-giants-gamble-pt-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/14\/the-giants-gamble-pt-21\/","title":{"rendered":"The Giant’s Gamble Pt. 21"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Chapter 21: From Flames to Fire<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

It took them well over an hour to break through every hut in the village of yak folk to check for slaves or hidden enemies. They dragged out a few masters and had them chained, and found dozens of cages of dwarves, elves, humans and gnomes, all captured and stripped of clothing. The flames from the great hut brought down several more buildings, but they managed to escape the fire and get the freed prisoners onto the deck of the airship. They offered food, water and clothing to the naked survivors, and found that most had travelled the area when they were brought in by the yak folk, drugged and enslaved. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Finally, they instructed Marteen that they would sleep that evening on the airship, then search for the iron slag mines. It was then that he could take the freed slaves to the nearest town and leave them with a few day\u2019s rations. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

The entrance to the mines was not difficult to find. They travelled east beyond the village for less than a mile following the river and found a waterwheel where the water folded into the mountain. There was a large opening next to it with a platform and a large pully system. As the waterwheel moved, so did the platform. It shifted downwards into a dark shaft. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our route,\u201d Kilian said, leaning over the edge so the upward draft tousled his hair.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Opal swallowed nervously and Hiccup\u2019s eyes went crossed. The squirrel atop the goblin\u2019s staff remained stiff and unmoving. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

When the platform reached back to the top, they stepped onto it and waited patiently as it moved deeper into the mountain. It stopped at several levels, but by their guesses, Duke Zolto and the magical conch would be at the deepest one. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

They reached a landing with a stretching hallway lined by torches. They had a moment\u2019s debate before all hopping off and tentatively moving down the path, eyes and ears strained for movement. They continued down the path for a minute before they heard the clatter of metal scraping metal. They had come to a widening in the hallway to a large open cavern. They ducked to the walls as they peeked in. Around the outer edge of the chamber was an iron track and small wagons travelling along it. On one side, the wagons were full of molten metal and disappeared into a far wall. On the other side, they returned empty. There was a ledge diving down into further darkness and hanging suspended several floors above this one hanged a massive metallic suit with a roughly humanoid shape. In the middle of its forehead rested a red ruby, and in its hand was grasped a sword. It was unmoving. Lifeless, and hanging from chains. It was built to the torso, the legs still missing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThia,\u201d Roon hissed, reaching to open their bag of holding, \u201cuse the adamantium staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Thia looked at him, her eyes alight as she grabbed the staff and held it up. Her eyes glowed softly. \u201cIt\u2019s made of adamantium,\u201d she whispered. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe vonendod,\u201d Kilian said in awe. \u201cThe weapon they\u2019ve been building.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCan we destroy it?\u201d Roon whispered. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCan we steal it?\u201d Evelyn asked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Kilian looked away from the massive hanging structure. \u201cFirst, Duke Zolto and the conch. Then we can worry about this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThere\u2019s another room up ahead,\u201d Thia pointed out, returning the staff to their bag. \u201cI\u2019ll duck in and see if there\u2019s anyone in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The elf crept away, and they all waited with bated breath. She returned from the other chamber a minute later. \u201cOrcs and a fire giant working on the metal in there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAny other exits?\u201d Opal asked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

She shook her head. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLet\u2019s keep looking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

They continued back down the hallway and took another, and then another, all the while keeping track of the turns they took. Several times Thia sent her fey owl ahead to scout the halls. Some were lit with torches and others were dark. They finally hit a stone room with a giant-sized curling staircase leading up and down. Thia\u2019s owl told them there were two fire giants in the floor above, neither of which looked like a Duke. They decided to travel down. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The smell grew fouler as they descended, as was to be expected with so many creatures living underground with very few ways for the air to escape. They continued down without torches as quietly as they could, and only stopped in their tracks when Flint stepped on a rat. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The horrible screeching from the diseased little creature echoed up and down the stone stairs, and it only took a moment for them to hear the resounding booms of footsteps coming in their direction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cHide!\u201d Roon said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

They scrambled up the stairs, but it was too late. Two large hands slammed into the doorway and an ugly ogre face appeared and roared. Its breath was horrid, but more horrid were the two proceeding ogres, and the fire giants that followed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFinally!\u201d Flint declared happily. \u201cOne for the songs!\u201d The bard began casting his spells, a song growing out of the magic he weaved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

They all flew into their fighting stances, surprised at how familiar they were with fighting alongside one another after so many months together. Evelyn\u2019s arms bled and her swords glowed with black and green energy. Roon\u2019s spiritual weapon flew as he sent bolstering blessings to his fighting friends. Kilian flew up like a storm and hit the creatures with lightning and thunder. Opal transformed into a rhinoceros and charged in the fray. Flint sent spells into the minds of the beasts and sent them fighting against each other, and while they were distracted, he shot them in the eyes with crossbow bolts. Thia shot acid and missiles and cut with her glowing sword. Hiccup, as usual, made incredible explosions of fire with his staff as his squirrel ran off into the darkness to hide. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

When the giants and ogres were obliterated within minutes by the small band of adventurers, Roon and Flint went through their group and cast healing spells. They were just cleaning up the blood left on their hands and faces when a booming voice came from below. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWHAT\u2019S GOING ON UP THERE?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

They all breathed sharply and got to their feet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The adventurers descend into the iron slag mines in search of Duke Zolto and the magic conch. In the depths of the mountain, they encounter fire giants, ogres, and other horrors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[18,19,17,14,15,16,23,20],"series":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-giants-gamble-dungeons-and-dragons-series","tag-campaign","tag-cult-of-the-dragon","tag-dnd","tag-dungeons-and-dragons","tag-fantasy","tag-series","tag-the-giants-gamble","tag-wizards-of-the-coast"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Giants-Gamble-Blog-Photos10-copy-12.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/music.amazon.ca\/podcasts\/09c34bbc-b359-49af-a286-31830ed5634c\/short-stories","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_play":{"key":"google_play","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Play","class":"google_play","icon":"google-play.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0lcQCRs52MfYlKs35lVX4K","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"

The Giant’s Gamble Pt. 21<\/a><\/blockquote>