AN ADVENTURER’S CHRONICLE: Against the Stone Giant Clans Sessions 5 & 6

The continuing saga of the battle against marauding hordes of stone giants from an adventurer's journal.

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. This journal recounts their continuing saga.

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.

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TINAE’S JOURNAL—A NEW BEGINNING

Session 5 — 13 March 2026

We made plans to attack the red dragon and prepared our spells accordingly. (Editor’s Note: The dragon was seen by two characters while they were ethereal. The DM ruled that those viewing the Prime Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane could see it only in black and white. Assuming the stone giant chief was in league with red dragons, they continued to believe it was a red dragon.) We made our way up the ledge toward the dragon’s cave. When we entered the large crystal cave, we were attacked by five of the crystal scorpions depicted in the relief at the entrance. (Editor’s Note: These creatures were crysmals.) Fighto killed one immediately with a couple of well-placed, mighty blows. They were difficult to hit but fairly brittle and didn’t last long once hit. Lucian cast a bless and then a prayer spell to assist us. During the fight, the dragon appeared on the ledge above us with an ear-splitting roar, and Azley slowed it. (Editor’s Note: They still believe they are dealing with a red dragon.) Apparently alarmed by its sluggish speed, it retreated into the cave. We wore down and ultimately slew the crystal scorpions. As we discussed how to reach the 50-foot-high cave entrance, we noticed two galeb duhr standing in two of the three passageways out of the large cave. We left via the unguarded path and returned to the worm cave to devise another approach. Stone Giant Adventurer's Chronicle

We reached the cave mouth again, and this time the two galeb duhr stood at the base of the cliff below it. I tried to parley with them, but the ground beneath my feet turned to mud for my troubles. (Editor’s Note: Once again, they used transmute rock to mud.) I sank into the muck, pulling my rope from my backpack to try to lasso a crystal and pull myself out. However, the rope was covered in mud and useless for that purpose. Melkor, who was wearing Thokk’s winged boots, swooped down and pulled me out. We all flew up to the cave mouth, except for Thokk, who, try as he might, could not make it all the way up to the cave opening. (Editor’s Note: The thief failed his climb walls check.)

Once in the dragon’s den, we got the jump on it and hit it with a prayer and a lightning bolt. Melkor and Fighto rushed in to attack, wounding the dragon badly. Vrask, in eagle form, attacked the dragon’s head. The dragon responded by breathing a cloud of rust-colored gas, which scorched Melkor’s and Vrask’s wings and killed Fighto. It also dissolved some of their iron-based equipment. (Editor’s Note: The players now realized that this was not a red dragon but a gray dragon, a new type of dragon appearing in module DDS5.) A barrage of spells, including magic missiles, a lightning bolt, and a flame strike, delivered the killing blow. After the dragon’s death, we found two tomes at the back of its cave. We believe these might be magical in some way. (Editor’s Note: Yes, they are.)

Out in the main cave, Thokk tried twice more to climb the cliff but fell both times. (Editor’s Note: He missed the dragon battle because he could not reach its lair!) Luckily, he escaped the galeb duhr’s notice and lay low behind some crystals.

The galeb duhr sealed the cave opening, trapping us inside. (Editor’s Note: They used a wall of stone to cover the entrance to the dragon’s den.) Vrask used a stone shape spell to create a new opening. Thokk saw his chance and took it, sneaking up to the cliff to try to climb it again. However, he accidentally kicked a rock, alerting the rock creatures to his presence. The galeb duhr turned the area at the base of the cliff into mud, trapping the thief. Azley, Vrask, and Melkor emerged through the new, smaller opening created by the stone shape and dropped a rope end down to Thokk. The galeb duhr turned the ledge into mud, sending Vrask and Azley hurtling down the resulting mudslide to the bottom of the cliff, 50 feet below. Vrask landed on top of the newly formed mud pit. Though his levitate spell was still active, Azley was buried beneath the sliding mud. Melkor, still wearing Thokk’s winged boots, escaped the torrent of mud and flew down to attack one of the galeb duhr.

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Session 6 — 20 March 2026

Melkor swooped down and swung both his weapons at one of the galeb duhr, but missed with both. Thokk climbed out of the mud, and Azley levitated to the surface, then cast a magic missile at the galeb duhr Melkor was fighting. The galeb duhr sealed the cave mouth again with a wall of stone, trapping Lucian and me. Melkor delivered a couple of shattering blows to the galeb duhr. Thokk attacked the other, ultimately killing it with the aid of Azley’s magic missiles. Vrask, Melkor, and I chipped away at the remaining galeb duhr until it was dead.

We entered the other cave adjacent to the main one and discovered a massive natural amethyst geode. There, we found 121 gems worth 50 gp each, 43 worth 100 gp each, 14 worth 500 gp each, eight worth 1,000 gp each, four worth 5,000 gp each, two worth 10,000 gp each, and one worth 25,000 gp. We placed the gems in our shrinking chest and returned to the worm cave. (Editor’s Note: This magical chest shrinks to pocket size upon command.)

After resting and relearning our spells, Lucian performed a miracle, bringing Fighto back to life. (Editor’s Note: The cleric cast a raise dead spell.) A potion of vitality eased Fighto’s post-revivification fatigue. We decided to coat ourselves in the oil of etherealness and explore with impunity. We returned to the oil spring, where Vrask, Fighto, Lucian, and Azley used the rest of the oil found there. Melkor and I used two of the three doses from his wineskin, and Thokk used his remaining vial. As we were leaving, we saw a couple of stone giants apparently waiting for us near where we had killed the earth elemental at the main entrance to the Gem Garden. One seemed to sense our presence, but the other had no clue. (Editor’s Note: Monsters with high Hit Dice and high Intelligence, like stone giants, have a chance to detect invisible creatures.) We slipped through the rock to circumvent them, then continued up the tunnel. After a while, we spotted a troupe of six large, ethereal spiders with odd, human-like faces. (Editor’s Note: These were phase spiders.) They did not notice us, so we let them pass.

We then came upon another stone giant who seemed to see us and locked eyes with Melkor. We slipped down into the floor and bypassed him from below. When we reached the main living area, it looked as if all the giants were prepared and waiting for us.

We passed into a cave with a large stone bed. (Editor’s Note: Unbeknownst to the players, these were Chief Sköll Foehammer’s personal quarters.) We returned to the common cave to find a much larger, stronger, and apparently smarter stone giant, along with a similarly impressive female stone giant. We counted about sixteen stone giants and one cave bear. Not wanting to tangle with so many giants at once, we departed. Around that time, the oil of etherealness wore off, leaving us in a 20-foot-wide corridor that led to the main audience hall. On our previous excursion, we had spotted four stone giant sentries in a side cave farther down the corridor. We decided to attack them first. Vrask hit them with faerie fire, and we moved in. Both Fighto and Melkor charged in, mauling the giants with a flurry of sword blows. The giants backed up to the rear of the audience hall, and we surged forward to press the attack. Melkor and Fighto made short work of three of them, then slaughtered the remaining giant when Thokk stabbed him.

This action alerted other giants, who came running to aid their embattled brethren. Chief Sköll, his wife, the cave bear, and four bodyguards appeared at the end of the corridor. We advanced to attack one of our main targets, Chief Sköll. I led with a fireball that engulfed them all. Thokk hurled the silence stone into their midst, masking our approach. Azley followed with a lightning bolt that further wounded the chieftain, killed two bodyguards, and destroyed many of the wife’s possessions. (Editor’s Note: Including a ring of spell storing.) Lucian’s flame strike slammed into the chief, but he survived. The bear charged, flinging Melkor aside, while Azley and Lucian were both hit by thrown boulders. I cast magic missiles at the bear, and Melkor finished it off by lopping off a foreleg with his sword of sharpness. Vrask transformed into a sabretooth tiger and mauled one of the two remaining giants after the chief and his wife fled. Fighto took down one of the remaining giants. Using his ring of invisibility and winged boots, Thokk flew up the hall and spotted numerous other giants in a large cave beyond. Melkor killed the remaining wounded giant with an arrow. We made a hasty retreat after Melkor was struck by a boulder.

We exited the cave complex and headed back into the valley, following a path along the valley wall. It led us to a cave mouth. (Editor’s Note: Unbeknownst to the party, they stumbled into the Wolverine Clan’s cave system.) Vrask, still in sabretooth form, detected the scent of stone giants inside. We went in and discovered an enormous relief depicting what appeared to be a giant god’s face. We continued and found a wide, deep crevasse. We crossed a titanic rope bridge spanning the chasm. Melkor spotted a pair of giant guards and a cave bear on the other side. Rather than risk a flurry of hurled boulders, we charged across the bridge. Fighto, Thokk, Melkor, and sabretooth Vrask engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the other side of the chasm. Fighto killed one giant, and we all ganged up on the other and slew him. Vrask, still in cat form, shredded the bear.

More sessions to come each week...