After freeing many orcs in the dungeon of the hill giants, the Coopers are ready to confront One Eye. Gerald's plan is to free as many orcs as possible and let them flood the dungeon. They might not have weapons, but they'll provide rear-guard action.
The Coopers head down deeper in the dungeon. They find an old section of mine, and the tunnel leads away from the compound. In the distance they hear the sounds of a forge. Nearing the space, Gerald attempts to sneak in the room, but in the process he knocks over a rack of helmets. A fire giant steps forward. Broad chested and wearing a dirty leather apron, the giant demands to know why Gerald is here. Gerald replies in elvish that he is here for an inspection. The giant, hearing the elvish, mistakes Gerald for an elf and immediately charges.
Using magic missile, Gerald successfully hits the fire giant, but the giant takes his revenge and swings his mighty hammer, hitting Gerald squarely in the face.The sisters engage as well from the corridor. Darelle fires her wand of magic missiles, while Daryle shoots arrows. Gerald summons an ice elemental, but the creature misses its attack. The fire giant doesn't however, and he slams into Gerald, sending him against the wall. Gerald collapses to the floor.
With Gerald down, the fire giant targets the sisters. He aims at Darelle and connects with his hammer. She retaliates by kicking some of the helmets laying on the ground, distracting the fire giant while Daryle attack. Darelle takes a moment to send a message with her tree token to the orcs, telling them of the cache of weapons and their need for help.
The fire giant, sensing the tide turning, backs up towards the forge while a second fire giant steps around the corner. This one took the time to put on his armor and presents a more formidable challenge to the Coopers. Fortunately, the first giant is slain by Daryle's lucky shot.
Darelle changes her target and pursues her attack against the second fire giant and lands a few blows but is then caught by the ankle and thrown against the wall. She falls on top of Gerald, and she acts dead. The fire giant turns away from her and heads towards Daryle. Darelle makes use of this occasion to use a few scrolls of healing on Gerald. The sorcerer revives and comes up with a better plan. He will summon a set of ice elmentals.
Meanwhile, Daryle soldiers on, but the fire giant's attacks are relentless and she sustains wound after wound before falling unconscious. Gerald and Darelle unleash their surprise attacks and triumph over the second fire giant. In the forge the Coopers find six dwarven slaves cowering in the corner. Gerald frees and heals the slaves. He tells them why they are here, and requests that they make weapons to arm themselves and the orcs. The dwarves agree to help out. Despite their hatred for the orcs, they're willing to put these issues aside for a way out of their predicament.
Before leaving the forge, the Coopers search the giants' possessions. Daryle finds a shield of arrow catching +1, while Darelle finds a headband of inspired wisdom.
The Coopers continue exploring the dungeon. They find the bugbears' barracks and distribute the weapons they find to their orc allies. They also locate the dining hall and the kitchen, and the orcs partake of the food in the pantries.
The party returns to the main room. They find another cell block, with a human in each cell and a third cell filled with skeletons. Gerald sets the hay in the skeletons' cell on fire. They find Elmer, an engineer used by the giants to expand the mines. The second human is so far gone in madness that he can't even communicate. Elmer tells the Coopers that he has been "working" for the giants for three years, digging a series of new tunnels in their silver mine. He knows the other man was a merchant, but he's been here more
In the next room Gerald discovers One Eye's treasure, including a magical earthernware jug. Continuing their exploration, they discover the wine cellar. There are several barrels and half-barrels, along with five gallon canisters. All of them are sealed with a black wax and a death head stamped in the seal. Gerald recognizes the wine and the winery as the Angel of Death, an alcohol so toxic there is a 75% chance that a human would become immediately inibriated. Giants have a 25% chance. Once inibriated, the individual drinking is unable to stop until they pass out. The wine itself is black, has a slightly earthy smell, and tastes like no other such drink. Gerald values the wine at 200 to 800 crowns per quart. Gerald sets up several wizard locks to keep the door locked to protect the wine. If they're able to retrieve it and bring it back to Fort Inevitable, they will be rich!
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