Session 17 - Heading to the Mountains

The party set out from Embermill to brave the forest full of giants after another brief chat with Elarod, who told them he'd get in touch with the party in a few days. 

After half a day's travel led by Godrin through the Northwestern Reaching Forest region (with the help of his deceased friend Erosin's journal) the party stumbles into a strange grove of trees evenly spaced apart.  The party continues onward, but soon spots a wooden box-shaped object in the distance ahead of them.  The party approaches to find it is a writing desk, which appears to have been here for a long time.  The desk has a pattern of worn spots on the surface where the stain of the wood has been discolored/removed presumably due to use.

Several locked drawers attracts the attention of the party, and Theron goes to work at unlocking them.  Having some difficulty with the lock, he is interrupted by the party fervently discussing how to hide from some incoming giants that are incoming through the grove.  The party splits up on either side of the trees and shimmies around as the giants pass, avoiding notice.

Coming back to the desk, they find that Theron has disappeared and the drawer is still locked.  Mmar decides to just try and yank the drawer open using brute strength and manages to rip out the knob and lock, opening the drawer.  Inside the party finds two colored decorative ceramic dishes, which they take before they leave.

Items gained:
Two colored decorative ceramic dishes

The party moves onward and finds the edge of this strange tree grove, Godrin discusses maybe sidetracking their path to investigate the origins of this grove, but the party decides to pursue their objective without distracting themselves.

A few hours later, shortly before dusk the party finds some tracks and light foraging has been done in the area, and the party hears what sounds like timbers being cracked or discarded.  They investigate further to find a small cottage half-collapsed with a frost giant continuing to tear the house apart, the remains of what appears to be two humans litter the area.  The party springs into action and begins assaulting the giant as they hear screams from inside the house.  The giant shows signs of advanced icerot, and exudes an aura of cold that freezes anything getting close to him.   After a few rounds they lay the giant low, outnumbering him severely.  Mmar delivers the killing blow as the weakened giant lays inside the cottage remains.

The party searches the area for the source of the screams and finds a very young boy huddled under a bed in the ruins.  They coax him out and find a nearby safe place to camp for the night, the boy obviously in shock is resistant to answering questions, but after some interaction with the party, he starts shaking his head yes or no in response to some questions.