The first giant turns to Devin and says "Greetings Devin. I am Nirva and this is my brother Jaral of the house Alv-venn. Speak of what you know and your quest!"  

Devin responds, this time in Giant.

"Is cinnteach gu bheil e na thlachd dhomh coinneachadh ri Nirva agus Jaral. Tha mi, còmhla ri mo chompanaich, air a bhith a’ leantainn caisteal cabhaig a chaidh fhaicinn san iar agus a thàinig an stiùireadh seo. Nach eil fhios agam."

Niva responds "tha e na thlachd a bhith a ’faicinn fear aig a bheil comas an seann chànan a bhruidhinn." He then switches to Common and says "but I will speak in the Common tongue so that others may understand us." He pauses and says "no it was not our castle" before continuing "as a servant of the Lady of Mysteries, you may be aware that Ordning imposed since time immemorial by Annam the All-Father is to say the least in abeyance, if not shattered. I would be interested in knowing what, if anything, you have been told either by your superiors in the church, or perhaps directly by the Lady herself, as to why this might be happening." 

Translation from Giant

D.O.R.K's eyes turn blue at the latest reply, and without conscious thought she looks towards Meiva with an expectant look. 

Vark, in the meantime, starts looking around for a stable or the like that might... take... elephants. Frankly, anything close to that looked like the could hold Golem for at least a night worked for him.

Perception: 10.

Meiva blinks at D.O.R.K's glance and the question.

"I am not certain that..." she begins, glancing at the giant who spoke most recently, and deciding to reply with a question of her own.

"Noble giant," Meiva begins, the first words seeming to drag themselves out of her mouth, with such effort are they spoken.

"I am Meiva, Cl--Ah, if you do not think it overly forthright, I feel interested to know: Is this breaking of the Ordning a pleasing or unpleasing event to you?"

"Is this breaking of the Ordning a pleasing or unpleasing event to you?" Meiva asks

"A good question Friend Elf!" Nirva says "if I may call you friend that it is." He pauses for a minute as if reflecting and then continues "my clan have always looked favorably on members of your race since they first emerged in this land, and this friendship is recognised in our clan's name! But I digress," At this point the other Giant looks across and with a smile says "you're getting like Uncle Zeph little brother." Nirva scowls at him and responds "I think I've got a long way to go before I get like Uncle Zeph! Anyway back to the question. Whilst the breaking of the Ordning will be disturbing for the small folk, for which I am sorry, no it is not displeasing to us because it will allow our race to assume its true place in the Giant Hierarchy!"   

Devin bows deeply to the giants

"Agus is e urram a th ’ann an seann chànan a bhruidhinn ri fear dhutsa."

 Then also switching back to common.

"So it is that myself and my companions have been gathered by our respective orders to look into the matter of the breaking of the Ordning.  As you speak, it is of concern to us small folk, and the god's show interest.  The Lady of Mysteries has revealed to me that the hierarchy of the Ordning has been broken, but by what force she did not show.  We then heard reports of a floating castle set upon a small village called Nightstone.  We traveled there and found the village attacked, but the castle gone.  A great black stone called the Nightstone had been taken from the village.  The castle then floated eastward and we have been following its trail and find ourselves here.  Whence this castle came or where it goes we do not know.  We follow the few clues we have."

At Devin and Meiva’s obvious interest in the Ordning, Nirva sits more upright whilst Jaral gets more comfortable almost as if knows that this could take some time. Nirva motions for at least Devin and Meiva to come forward, it is up to the other party members what they do. As Devin and Meiva move forward the townfolk move apart a little to let them to the front. Even if the party members are at the back of what is now a growing crowd they can still hear what Nirva says.

Nirva thinks for a moment and says “it is true that since the Ordning has been broken, we Giants have become more active and many are looking for relics of old Ostoria – our last great empire – but to understand why we are more active, you need to understand the Ordning and how it works.”

He holds up a finger and continues “in its simplest form, the Ordning is a caste system, I assume you all know what a caste system is? Well the Ording defines where a giant stands among their ilk both in regard to other giant types and within their own discrete races. At the top are the Storm Giants who are supposedly responsible for keeping the other giants from despoiling the realms of small folk and sparking conflict. Next are my people – the Cloud Giants – and I must admit my clan are unusual amongst our people in than we are interested in the small folk and their doings. After that and almost equal to each other, are the Fire Giants and the Frost Giants. The Fire Giants value their forging skills and use this a measure of their own worth whereas the Frost Giants rank themselves by their martial prowess. The xenophobic stone giants, who mostly live underground and regard the surface world as a realm of dreams rank next and at the bottom of the Ordning are the hill giants, as gluttonous as they are loathsome. Hill giants are dullards who live in fear of their more powerful giant cousins and in their society, the biggest – usually the females – rule!”

Nirva pauses to catch his breath and holds up a second finger and says “you may not be aware but our enmity with the Dragons stretches back into the mists of time when we battled with them for control of this land. I think it is true to say that we battled ourselves to a standstill and since we lost Ostoria, a truce has effectively been in place. However, more recently the Dragons, Annam curse them, led by their Queen Tiamat and aided by the smallfolk lead Cult of the Dragon. Our seers tell us that it was our complacency which enabled the dragons to get as close as they did to conquering this land so angered Annam the All-Father that he shattered the Ordning between the giants to break his ‘children’ out of their complacency and pitting the six giant types against one another while keeping some semblance of order within each type has effectively spurred cloud, fire, frost, stone, and hill giants to challenge the established hierarchy and reforge our destiny as a people. My kin and I believe that the way for us to improve our standing and take our true place at the top of a new and re-forged Ordning is to locate as many artifacts as we can from old Ostoria. It is possible that this Nightstone is one such artifact?”

Nirva then holds up a third finger and says “the last thing you perhaps need to be aware of is that not all is well in the court of King Hekaton. In his prime the King was the most powerful of all storm giants in this part of Toril and one of our greatest seers. However I have heard, for reasons that I do not know, the King had over time become came to believe that the giants were no longer the rightful masters of the world and this belief in part contributed to the All Father’s decision to shatter the Ordning. The other thing you need to be aware of is that a couple of months ago, the King’s beloved wife – a great champion of you small folk – was found dead on a small island where she had been known to meet with humans. Apparently it was clear that she had been killed by small folk, and Hekaton wept for days before threatening to unleash his vengeance on the unsuspecting coastal territories. Fortunately for you, I am told his younger daughter Serissa, who shared her mother’s affection for small folk and is apparently next in line to inherit the Throne managed to assuage her father’s wrath but how long it is abeyance remains to be seen."

Nirva's speech takes about 5-6 minutes and the whole audience listens spellbound for this is the first time that many have heard about how Giant society works. Finally Nirva turns to Devin and Meira and says "I hope that this helps in your quest?"

"Yes that is most helpful.   It also reminds me of a couple things.   One of our group was told of a dream their god had that showed massive ants working on a nest when a large foot smashes the nest and scatters it.   I wonder if this was symbolic of the All Father smashing the Ordning.  What interests me most is that a blue-scaled lizard was watching from the bushes.  Perhaps there is more trouble from dragons again?"

Devin looks puzzled for a moment trying to work something out.

"So where do we go from here then? If the cloud giant castle was not yours, perhaps it was anothers and they are collecting artifacts lost and scattered after the end of the Giant Empire. So chasing that castle might not gain us anything more. But it did lead us here to meet and speak with you."

Meiva inclines her head at Nirva's question.

When Devin mentions the dream of a giant's foot, Meiva nods her head again.

"Yes, that was my superior's dream. Perhaps...." She thinks, then continues.

"I now wonder at one part of the dream: the placement of the blue lizard, which now seems so clearly to represent a dragon. The lizard was not just watching the ants be stomped upon, it was hiding in a bush nearby. To me, this implies a certain desire to not be noticed. And I believe I have heard of blue dragons being tricksters..."

Meiva looks up at Nirva, takes a deep breath, and begins to speak, slowly at first, but more quickly until her words are almost stumbling over each other.

"You mentioned the death of the queen's wife. She was found dead in a place that she had visited humans before. Not simply that, but she was also known to be a 'champion of small folk.' Why would a group of small folk, most likely including the same small folk as she had visited before, have slain her, with these being true? Unless...they were lead into it by a dragon, or unless the deed itself was done by a dragon. And this fits into my superior's dream, for you mentioned how greatly angered King Hekaton was against the small folk....Yes. This seems a sufficient interpretation of my superior's dream. A dragon caused the death of King Hekaton's wife, though this dragon made it seem as if independent 'small folk' did the deed, leading to great anger in the King and, it seems likely, other giants against small folk. If unchecked, this anger may lead to the 'stomping upon' of small folk, while all the while, this dragon or group of dragons watch from the shadows."

Torunn pauses his engraving at the quick mention of fire giants. He then scrambles down Gol (Acrobatics: 6), trips and lands on his arse. He quickly dusts himself off and walks over to the group, his project, which is quite obviously a musket held loosely but carefully in his hands.

As he approaches the Giants and his fellow clerics, he waits for a break in the conversation before speaking up. "My name is Torunn. I am a cleric of Gond from the island of Lantan, the home of Invention. I heard you mention the Fire Giants, we have heard many interesting things about the skills of the Fire Giants back home. If we are going to investigate this cause, I would very much like to see how well their skill holds up to the legends." He pats his project as he says this. "Do you know where they are?"

Quite bored with all the talk — none of which has anything to do with gambling — Jaylen's attention wavers. As Dork heads back to the gatehouse, the blonde cleric of Tymora moves away from the group to follow the warforged.

*Insert conversation between Dork and guards*

As Dork leaves the gatehouse, Jaylen intercepts her. "Dork," Jaylen says, the word still sounding awkward in her mouth, "I ... have a request. As you know, many of my abilities are still unknown to me. You appear to be well-versed in your own abilities and have a knack — or at least a desire to help others become more familiar with their own. I would like to formally request your assistance to ... grow." She uncomfortably smooths her travel robes and then tucks one curtain of her hair behind an ear as she blinks up at the living construct.

Entering the gatehouse, or at least getting within easy speaking range with a still gawking guard on duty, D.O.R.K claps her hand as close to his face as possible, grabbing attention back. "Oi,  ya son'ova dog biscuit. Wat 'n da 'ell ya doin? Eyes forward 'n sharp 'fer da ogres get'cha." She says, mixing a little of Beedo's accent with that of her mentor's. Once she properly had it again,  D.O.R.K puts her hands on her hips and let her eyes glow red at the guard. "Now I know it ain't everday this sorta thing 'appens around 'ere. At least by the looks of it ain't. But dat ain't no excuse to be slack'n. Sure ya gotta plenty o've a'da guards post'n 'ere and 'ere, wait'n in da wings in case fings get a little 'eckted."

She switches to crossing her arms next and shifting her weight to a back foot. "Now I rather now contradict meself further by ask'n this, but see'n as ya now got a moment, mind tell'n me if any traveling merchants or venturer's been 'round 'ese 'ere parts?" She continues on in her synthetic voice.

A little later(if not arrested)….

By the time D.O.R.K leaves the gatehouse, her eyes and posture have defaulted to neutral. "Acolyte of Mystara, Jaylen?" She replies, pausing in step and canting her head. As soon as the word "request" left Jaylen's mouth, the living construct immediately straightens out with her hands folded behind her and chin up respectfully. But after all is said and done, her body began to tremble to the point plates begin to noisily click and clank. Nothing above a word of concern gets out before Jaylen has to suddenly move or be picked up by the 5 foot nothing red cleric at the waist, and spun around thrice on synthesized giggles. Even after the spin finishes she doesn't let go, but instead looks up to Jaylen with pink glowing eyes and giggles trailing away.

"It worked! Mother's advice finally worked!" She proudly.

"Gah!" Jaylen exclaims as she is bodily lifted off her feet. Arms pinned to her sides, she wriggles against Dork's strong grasp. After the second time around, she can't help herself, and one bark of laughter escapes her. But as the spinning stops and she looks down into the glowing pink eyes, she arranges her face into that of sternness. "Yes, yes, now put me down," she commands, her legs kicking ineffectually.

"What interests me most is that a blue-scaled lizard was watching from the bushes.  Perhaps there is more trouble from dragons again?" Devin asks

"The lizard was not just watching the ants be stomped upon, it was hiding in a bush nearby. To me, this implies a certain desire to not be noticed. And with blue dragons being tricksters..." Meiva says.

Nirva nods in response to both Devin and Meiva’s comments and then says “If a dragon was stirring the pot, that would make sense and you’re right blue dragons are particularly noted for this sort of behavior."

"I would very much like to see how well their skill holds up to the legends. Do you know where they are?" Toruun says. 

The other Giant, Jaral, looks over at Toruun and says “that looks like good work but I wouldn’t get too close to the Fire Giants as you’ll end up working for free, in  very poor conditions, if you take my meaning."

Back at the Guard House

The guard snaps to attention and yells "Sir, yes Sir" at D.O.R.K.'s comments. He then looks up and realises that he is talking to women "I mean sorry Mams" he then says. He scratches the top of his helmet and continues "'xactly what do you mean Mams, this town is one of the few stopping points on the Delimbiyr Route which connnects Loudwater to Waterdeep, so we see merchants and travellers all the time!"

Back at the Guard House..

"Oh? Is 'at righ?" The living construct cants her head. "Any of'em claim'n ta be Cartografurs or map sellers? 'nd on the subject of 'ravelers, leace 'e most recent kind, any of'em claiming ta be 'venturers? Spotted some goblins rove'n 'bout ge'ing up ta all kinds of no good on 'e way 'ere. Did wat I could ta convince 'em to walk da straight 'n narrow -- ya know, to de escalate the situation, wat wit dis 'ole business wit giants 'nd wat not going on. Sad to say, it ain't quite worked."  She bowed her head solemnly on that note. 

Outside After..

"Order's acknowledged." D.O.R.K sets Jaylen gently down, and then steps back for a bow. "My apologies, Servant of Tymora. It would seem that Sir Diego's suggested course of actions has yet to be fully integrated into baseline protocols." Her bows deepens for a few seconds. "I will endeavor to correct this in the future." She expresses, and after hearing a reply straightens out again to ask, "On the subject of your awakening connection, we should-..." D.O.R.K catches herself and shakes her head. "Where do you wish to begin?" 

Still at the Guard House

The Guard looks thoroughly confused at D.O.R.K.'s statement and turns to Jaylen "please Mam what is she saying?" he asks.

"Just point her toward the travelers and merchants," Jaylen answers the guard distractedly.

Later ...

Where to begin? Jaylen opens her mouth, then closes it. She blinks a couple times and tilts her head a little. "I'm not sure. You had asked about the range of my ... duplicate. I guess that's as good a place as any."