Page 180 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

In addition, a large growth of yellow mo they will be on the alert. Furthermore, the frost giants
cover the southwest corner of the room .. will organize traps, ambushes, and last-ditch defenses
ical contact with this image reveals its illu5 • against continuing forays into their stronghold, taking
Someone who examines the image withou ing full advantage of the treacherous terrain (ice slides, rig-
it can determine that it is an illusion by makir:,, a, ging tunnels to collapse on the party, and so forth). They
cessful DC 15 intelligence (Investigation) c ec O a will also make active efforts to locate the characters'
successful check, the illusion fades for tha c ~a er. base of operations (winter wolves make good trackers)
becoming transparent enough to see through. and, if successful, attack it at the most inopportune
The illusion conceals the following item . which are time. Finally, make sure to keep track of the fate of im-
hung upon the wall: a quiver of eleven -1 arrow . a portant giants and their allies or captives; those who
+2 spear, and a flame tongue shortsword. A character survive might play roles later in the adventure.
attuned to this sword can use an action to mentally com-
mand it to detect gems and jewels. Someone who does START
so learns the kind and number of such objects within 60 It is assumed that the party has either followed the
feet of the sword. map obtained at the steading or used the magical chain
Finally, what appears to be a broken barrel rests in found there to arrive in the neighborhood of the glacial
the southeast corner. This is another illusion, conceal- rift. If they spend a few hours searching the area, they
ing a well-made, watertight cask that holds a map show- discover a hidden cave in which they can safely hide
ing the location of the frost giants' glacial rift and an themselves, their mounts, equipment, and even trea-
obsidian box. sure if they take minimum precautions with respect to
Inside this latter container is a long, thin chain made keeping their hiding place secret (do not lead pursuers
of weird black metal and instructions written in Giant to the spot, allow a light to show, make undue noise
(using Dwarvish script) on a sheet of human skin. The there, etc.). In any event, the same search will also re-
instructions indicate that the chain is a magical device veal the rift.
meant to be placed on a flat surface and looped into a The party can travel on the surface of the gla-
figure-8 shape. (It radiates an aura of conjuration to the cier-mountain (over the caves shown) to circumvent the
use of detect magic.) Thus configured, it can transport whole rift if they so desire. Ropes can be lowered to gain
up to one giant or six human-sized persons standing in the ledges below-a distance of some 50 to 150 feet de-
each loop of the figure-8 to the glacial rift, if one of their pending on position. Every hour the party moves along
number is holding the map. (Nosnra uses this method of the icy terrain, randomly choose one character to make
escaping if he finds himself in desperate straits.) a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the check fails,
the character slips and falls. If the check fails by 5 or
THE GLACIAL RIFT OF THE more, the character goes over the edge of the rift.
The whole place is windy and very cold. Visibility
FROST GIANT ]ARL atop the rift is about 150 feet. The wind at the bottom of
Dozens of leagues to the north and west of the Steading the rift is worse still, and visibility there is only 30 feet.
of the Hill Giant Chief, amid the tallest mountain peaks, The floor of the rift is a maze of snow and ice hillocks
is the stronghold of Grugnur, Lord of Frost Giants. As and mounds, with peaks of ice and rock thrusting up
frost giants have been among those who have been in here and there like fangs. All movement in the rift is
the reaving bands, the party is to deal with them as hampered by this difficult terrain. Due to wind force and
they did the hill giants: death and destruction are to be eddying currents, attempts at levitation or flying cause
meted out to the frost giants in the same measure they movement in a random direction equal to half the dis-
gave these things to the peoples below. Those members tance traveled (use a d8 to determine direction: 1 north,
of the party who have participated in the raid on the 2 northeast, 3 east, and so on).
steading should know by now that their most important If the party is on the floor of the rift and fleeing from
mission is to garner intelligence as to what or who is pursuing monsters, the blizzard-like conditions in this
behind the unholy alliance of hill, stone, frost, and pos- area makes the characters hard to catch. The characters
sibly other types of giants as well. Any such information have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to evade
gained is to be delivered by the fastest means to the pursuit. At the same time, winter wolves are considered
nobles sponsoring the expedition, while the party is to to have passive Perception scores 4 higher than normal
follow up clues in order to prosecute offenders. Any trea- when they are pursuing the characters.
sure taken is to be kept by the party; this is their reward The map the characters have shows only the location
for the perils they must face- and they are bound to face of the rift and the entrance to the place, and they have
many in the weird ice caves and rocky caverns of the no other idea as to which path they should follow. Other
jarl. The evil root is deeply grown here, far worse than than a few traces of giant footprints, the ice and wind-
among the hill giants. driven snow hide all traces of who or what uses the
ledges to gain access to the caves. The characters must
RUNNING THE ADVENTURE learn for themselves what lies in store.
If the adventurers decide to fall back between forays
As with the first part of the adventure. you hould feel
free to make substitutions as you see fit. 1 ·ore that if the into the rift, they can use their hidden cave as a base if
giants here have learned of the fate that befell the hill they have seen to its provisioning.
giants, or if survivors from the steading reached them,

CHAPTER 6 I AGAINST THE GIANTS
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