AN ADVENTURER’S CHRONICLE: Against the Stone Giant Clans Sessions 1 & 2

A journal by an adventurer battling the marauding hordes of stone giants.

By R. Nelson Bailey

Introduction

Welcome to the campaign journal chronicling the battle against the stone giant clans of Flóndisheim. This adventure became the DUNGEON DELVE module DDS5 Valley of the Stone Giant Clans. The journal features the main characters from my weekly Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) group, who began their careers a few years ago as 1st-level characters.

Their yearning for excitement and adventure led them on many memorable exploits, beginning with the fabled Caverns of Enzirion (module DDS3 The Mystic Caverns of Enzirion). From there, they battled the evil sorcerer Astarbul and his legion of murderous dolls (module DDSQ3 Night of the Demon-Dolls), then investigated the fate of a missing caravan destroyed by a demon-possessed dragon (module DDSQ2 The Lost Caravan). The road next led them to search for the magical Gauntlet in Insarna Castle (TSR module UK3 The Gauntlet) and to an expedition into a ghostly tower in search of the lost Soul Gem (TSR module C2 Ghost Tower of Inverness). They then took to the sea, journeying to the ruined city ruled by a lamia (The City of Lost Souls), then battling a force of fierce pirates. They embarked on a mission against a half-locathah magician, which carried them underwater to his crab castle (Wrath of the Sea-King). Finally, they traveled to a mysterious tropical island (TSR module X1 Isle of Dread) and encountered the yuan-ti, the dreaded snake men (TSR module I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City). Their journey culminated in a battle against a servant of the demon prince Demogorgon, a powerful Type V demon.

After years of hard adventuring, the party retired to their homes to rest for a year. Their respite ended when a contingent of dwarves arrived, seeking help against stone giant raiders. This prompted the party's next adventure, detailed herein.

The campaign uses First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, naturally modified with a few house rules. Most of the characters have reached “name level”—roughly 9th or 10th level. The party consists of the following characters:

• Thokk, 10th-level half-orc thief (player: Rob)

• Azley, 9th-level human magic-user (player: Andrew)

• Melkor, 9th-level human ranger (player: John)

• Vrask, 8th-level half-elf druid (player: Stormie)

• Fighto, 8th-level half-elf fighter (player: Tim)

• Lucian, 9th-level human cleric (player: Greg)

• Tinae, 9th-level half-elf bard (player: Dan)

(Editor’s Note: Bards in this campaign are more akin to those in Second Edition AD&D than to those in First Edition.)

The party’s exploits are chronicled in the journal of the bard Tinae. Her player, Dan, writes the journal during gameplay to recall the previous week’s events and to provide a reference for the players. He has kept a weekly journal for the game for over 10 years. Keep in mind that this is not a full accounting of the adventurer’s experience, merely their highlights. Much has been abridged or omitted.

So read on. Hear of the exploits—both triumphant and tragic. As the journal is written from the player’s perspective, I, the editor, will periodically interject to clarify the situation for you, the reader.

✧ ════════ ✦ ════════ ✧

TINAE’S JOURNAL—A NEW BEGINNING

Session 1 — 13 February 2026

It’s been a year since our company’s last adventure. We’ve grown bored with our mundane work and, to be honest, are running low on coin. We had been discussing new adventuring leads when 10 dwarves arrived at the keep, led by Fergle Bloodaxe.

The dwarves are emissaries of the dwarven mountain clans. Trade between humans and the mountain dwarves has completely shut down because of the stone giants’ ruthless attacks on caravans. The giants have even begun tunneling into the mountain dwarves’ homes, and attempts to negotiate have proved fruitless. The giants’ chief, Sköll Foehammer, is determined to eliminate the dwarves and drive them from their mountain homes. The giants live in a cul-de-sac valley they call Flóndisheim, which I recognize as the rumored location of the fabled “Gem Garden,” said to yield the finest gemstones known. They say they cannot pay us, but we can keep whatever we loot from the giants. We accepted their offer and set out a few days later.

We took a wagon and several horses and rode north with the dwarves. We passed through the town of Gotha, then crossed the river into the foothills. The mountain range formed a veritable wall rising from the plains. As we entered the mountains, we met our guides, Moin and Lofar. Both hill dwarves, they were hardened fighters. They told us to stow our pack animals and extra supplies in a cave before entering stone giant territory. With that, we headed for our mountain base camp.

After more riding, we spotted a trio of giants in the distance, and they spotted us at the same time. I cast a fireball that enveloped the trio. Melkor and Fighto rushed in after the blast subsided. Both were hit by boulders as they closed, with Melkor taking a particularly devastating blow. I finished off the giant who took the brunt of the fireball, toppling him, while Azley magically slowed the others. Melkor and Fighto both struck another giant. One of the giants accidentally struck the other with a stone club. Melkor’s sword of sharpness severed the already-injured giant’s hand, and Thokk finished him off. (Editor’s Note: A sword of sharpness removes an opponent’s limb on an attack roll of a natural 19 or 20.) After Melkor and Fighto had slain the other giants, we found 100 electrum pieces, four 100 gp gems, six 50 gp gems, and 250 gp worth of gold slag on the giants’ corpses. Moin and Lofar told us that stone giants are tough to fight but deadly with thrown boulders. They also said that Sköll Foehammer had enlisted a pair of red dragons to guard the giants’ considerable treasure and that many stone giants resented his consolidation of their clans. (Editor’s Note: The information about the dragons and giantish resentment consists of false rumors. A DM should always include disinformation in their game. This reflects the natural state of the unknown and unverifiable. The players cannot and should not know everything. However, in my experience, players tend to believe most of what NPCs tell them as long as it’s not completely outlandish.)

✧ ════════ ✦ ════════ ✧

Session 2 — 20 February 2026

We reached the base camp and spent a relatively comfortable night in a large cave. We left our dwarven guides with our horses and wagons. We followed a steep, high-walled valley uphill. After several hours, we began to see giant signs, such as large painted stone heads. Melkor sent one of his invisible crow companions to scout ahead. It reported giants and large, four-legged, horned animals. Thokk, using his ring of invisibility, scouted ahead ¾ of a mile to where the valley curved. Thokk could see a 400-foot-tall waterfall, with numerous cave entrances halfway up the wall on either side of the falls. He saw several stone giants and an ogre standing watch over a flock of giant rams.

The Stone Giant Adventurer's Chronicle continues.

Thokk returned and briefed us on what he saw. Melkor suggested flying up the valley, and we agreed it was a good idea. Melkor and Fighto took flying potions; Thokk used his winged boots; Azley cast fly on Lucian and me, then polymorphed himself into an owl; and Vrask also transformed into an owl using his druidic shapechanging power. We flew up the valley to the waterfall and investigated the cave mouths near the top. Seeing no way for the giants to reach them, we surmised they were likely lairs of flying creatures. We then flew down to a cave closer to the bottom that had a trail leading up to it. The cave entrance was more than 20 feet wide and more than 400 feet above the valley floor. Thokk scouted it out, spotting hundreds of small, glowing yellow specks along the walls. The cave extended beyond the range of Thokk’s infravision. We decided to begin our exploration in this cave.

Upon entering the cave, we discovered that the glowing spots on the walls came from thousands of small worms. Inside the cave were four large, odd-looking boulders. A grinding, rock-like voice from within the cave said, “You do not belong here . . . leave,” accompanied by a deep rumble that reverberated throughout the cave. We could make out a rough face in the stone and remembered the rock creature we had encountered in the yuan-ti complex. (Editor’s Note: This references a galeb duhr—a type of rock monster previously encountered during the adventure I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City.) When the boulders sprouted legs and began moving toward us, we decided to leave before any trouble could start. We followed the trail until it led us to another cave mouth.

On either side stood a 15-foot-tall stone statue of a squatting stone giant holding out a bowl. Deep within the cave, we could see the faint, flickering light of a fire. We approached and found giant runes carved into the ground at the entrance. I deciphered them: “Welcome to the abode of the Stone Giant Chief.” As we discussed our next course of action, three enormous reptilian creatures with broad wings and long, spiked tails flew over the valley. Thankfully, they either didn’t see us or weren’t interested, and they flew into the caves.  

A vast set of giant stairs descended into a cave with remarkable carvings depicting a stone giant god creating the world from rock, then shaping stone giants from clay and the bones of the earth. Two passages led from the cave. We followed the less-traveled tunnel, which descended another set of natural steps. At the bottom, we entered an enormous cave whose floor was covered in thick green moss. Hundreds of large, bison-like creatures fed on the moss. (Editor’s Note: The bison-like creatures are rothé.) A giant called out in an unfamiliar language from deep within the cavern, and we decided to seek another way in. The second passage led to a cave with four bear statues and two stone giants inside. Azley moved in and cast an enfeeblement spell on one giant, critically weakening him. (Editor’s Note: The spell was ray of enfeeblement.) Melkor attacked the other giant with two weapons, including his dismembering sword. (Editor’s Note: This was a sword of sharpness.) The magic sword struck true, decapitating the giant with one slash. Fighto struck a mighty blow against the weakened giant, carving a large chunk out of him. The giant hit Fighto, wounding him but not too badly. Fighto and Melkor finished him off handily, with some deft bow work on my part. We left the corpses and continued on, with Thokk leading the way, carrying a silence stone. (Editor’s Note: A rock with a silence 15′ radius spell cast upon it.)

We came to a wide passage with numerous tunnels branching off from it. The last tunnel on the right led to the forge of a giant smith. There was a flurry of activity inside, with a passel of gnomes running around, assisting a giant of a different kind. The giant was bald and had human-like skin. (Editor’s Note: The smith was a firbolg giant.)

We took the first passage to the left. We followed it past an intersection to a vast natural cave lit by braziers. Several passages led from the room. Thokk went in and found a dais and throne-like chairs. We returned to the intersection and found that the passage to the left led into a cave with numerous niches, each containing a carved stone giant's head. Across the main corridor, a chamber held four stone giant guards. Avoiding the guards, we went back to the throne room, where we saw two giants on a 15-foot ledge preparing to hurl boulders at us. We rushed past them down a tunnel, then found a narrow ramp leading up to them. Boulders hit Melkor and Lucian.

The warriors charged forward as Azley and I cast spells to shrink them (Editor’s Note: The reduce spell, the reverse of enlarge), but both giants resisted the magic. Thokk shone a continual light cast on a rock into one giant’s eyes, and Melkor shot an arrow through the same giant’s body without killing him. A second arrow finished him. Fighto brought the other giant near death, and I delivered the coup de grâce with an arrow. (Editor’s Note: The Valley of Flóndisheim is home to five clans of stone giants, each residing in its own cave system. The valley also contains many other caves, some occupied by giants or monsters and others unoccupied. The players unknowingly chose to enter the caves of the Cave Bear Clan, the most powerful of the five clans and the clan of the overchief, Sköll Foehammer.)

More sessions to come each week...