Ink stands awkwardly next to Crownsguard in the circle... waiting. 

"By the way, thanks for saving my butt from that horrible flame centipede about an hour and a half ago."

Quote from jr_el_leon >>

Ink stands awkwardly next to Crownsguard in the circle... waiting. 

"By the way, thanks for saving my butt from that horrible flame centipede about an hour and a half ago."

 Crownsguard turns from his waiting and places a large hand on his shoulder, “Of course, Ink. It is my Prime Directive to protect and serve. However, more than that, we are friends. I will not allow anything to harm you four.” He gives a thumbs up.

At Crownsguard’s question, the fourth lantern is extinguished and the disembodied voice thunders its response in giantish: “Many follies did Netheril commit. The proof of this now lies buried under the sands of Anauroch. The tomb of Ascore calls for you.”

Then, as Ink asks his question, the fifth light winks out.

“First, you must prove yourself! When human barbarians came to these lands, they fought our kind and stole our relics, burying them in the ground. The humans built altars to Uthgar, their god-king, atop these relics and surrounded their altars with burial mounds. Go to these mounds, retrieve one or more of our lost relics, and bring them here as tribute. Do this, and your path will be made clear. There are many paths you can take. The more relics you deliver, the more paths you will have to choose from. Several evil giant lords stand ready to oppose you. You can ruin all of their plans by defeating just one of them. Which one that is remains to be seen.”

Quote from jr_el_leon >>

Ink steps out of the circle and asks both Harshnag and Eigeron, "Magic Conch of the storm giant king, Hekaton? Either of you ever heard of that? What about where this court is? Does it have a name?... Harshnag, weren't you talking about Hekaton the other night?" 

 Harshnag and Eigeron know nothing of the “conch,” but Harshnag nods. “Hekaton ruled from Maelstrom, but before now, I had no idea how people reached it. It is under the sea, somewhere hidden. I only knew they were summoned. Now it makes sense. Maybe Hekaton used magic to transport his subjects to him.”

Time spent in the Eye of Annam: 18 minutes. 

After Ink asks the fifth question, Harshnag defers. “Like I said, you’ve earned it. I’ve decided to remain here for a time, to meditate and commune with the gods. It sounds like the oracle wants you to prove yourselves, so you should probably do that without my help anyway. Please, ask the last question. I don’t mind.”

Quote from Awaypturwpn >>

At Crownsguard’s question, the fourth lantern is extinguished and the disembodied voice thunders its response in giantish: “Many follies did Netheril commit. The proof of this now lies buried under the sands of Anauroch. The tomb of Ascore calls for you.”

 

 Crownsguard stands quietly as Ink translates, “Understood.”

Ink translates all for all.

He then gently guides Crownsguard out of the circle so that Harshnag may ask his question unimpeded.

Once safely outside the circle, he says, "Well, Crownsguard, if we survive this, you definitely have a travel companion. Any opportunity to visit a tomb, especially one of Netheril is an opportunity I'll take."

"Maelstrom... Under the sea. How interesting. Harshnag, once you're done with your question, I don't suppose you'd know where these burial mounds may be found....

"Well, the fire giants mean to build a world ending machine, and the stone giants flatten the land of anything built by us small folk... How much worse could the other giant lords be? Hill. Frost. Cloud. Storm...

"I wish we knew what befell Hekaton and if anyone plotted against him....

"The Ordning broken due to the complacency of the giants. I heard rumors from our network about some dragon-related emergent situation occurring down south. Given the giants and dragons "rocky history" perhaps the origin of this trouble stems from that....

Then, to himself mostly, Ink says, "Imagine a battle between giants and dragons - how terribly glorious that would be."

Crownsguard nods, “Yes. I appreciate your assistance...”

Time spent in the Eye of Annam: 20 minutes

Flint finishes his identification of the gem, revealing it to be an opal of the ild rune.

Harshnag nods as Ink translates. "You're good with our tongue, I am impressed," he comments in Common. "And yes, I am familiar with the burial mounds of the Uthgardt. I will draw you a map."

"Excellent! Thank you, Harshnag," Ink replies. "And thank you for the compliment. I've been studying for over a half century. 

He steps back into the circle, muttering, "Hekaton is the key.... Very well."

"Who are the individuals that are the "root of evil" affecting King Hekaton's court that conspired against the king and contributed to his disappearance?" asks Ink. 

Time in the Eye of Annam: 21 minutes

The voice thunders its sixth reply in giantish as the last lantern goes out:

"Hekaton was misled by his eldest daughters, who were in turn manipulated by a greater evil named Iymrith—a blue dragon in the guise of a storm giant."

The thunder subsides to a dull roar, and Harshnag's brightly glowing axe is the only light source of bright light in the freezing chamber. It casts a dramatic light up on the looming giant statues which stands around the magic circle. The roiling clouds in the portal glow dimly, as if highlighting the exit.

Quote from DarthAvarice >>

Flint nods to ink "ah don't know that ah had any questions ta ask, an ah don't know that Moradin would approve ta begin with. "

Flint feels divinely inspired, as if the Morndinsamman are smiling down on him.

// Inspiration for Flint! //

"A blue dragon in the guise of a storm giant?!?" exclaims Ink. "That adds a whole new layer to this... If we have to face it..."

Ink's face shows some concern, but then it noticeably perks up, "Imagine the wealth of knowledge such a dragon's horde would contain? If it's powerful enough to infiltrate Maelstrom, an assumption granted, it truly must have deep knowledge of lore, history and the arcane."

"Harshnag - I was tasked by my people to simply warn cities of the escalating activity amongst your kin... What I've been pulled into is much grander. I look forward to this. The lore I will be able to add to the libraries back home will be invaluable."

A flash suddenly comes to Ink's face, he asks, "Has anyone asked the All Father where the remnants of Ostoria lie, awaiting discovery?"

"Sorry, my mind's racing given this fount of knowledge within this temple. We should step out before the door portal closes. We should also ask where Eigeron’s father is."

Ink will spend a few minutes longer sketching out this sanctum and any runes within, but spend no more than about ten minutes doing so. He then walks out through the portal. 

"Eigaron's sire may be among 'is  own kind. When we come back with th' cloud relic it may lead us to 'im." Flint looks to the others before following ink out the room.

Harshnag simply smiles at Ink’s enthusiasm and scratches his beard. After following you out of the portal, he makes his way over to the feast hall. “I told you I would make you a map. I’ll go and do that now; I have some supplies in my pack. I’ll try to make it small; I know that you wouldn’t want to carry around a giant-sized piece of paper!” He will then retire to the feast hall, where there are tables to work on. 

"I need some air, I'm going outside for a bit... that trouble might have arrived" Rip will go outside and look to the sky, as directed.

Harshnag nods at Rip and gets to work on the map.

Outside, the morning sun is barely cresting the high peaks to your east. Among the clouds, you see the unmistakable silhouette of a ship, floating in the sky, heading your direction. 

"hmm, if they are evil I get a ship... if they are good I get a friend with a ship" Rip will casually toss some fire bolts into the temple to alert his friends

// Do we roll to casually dodge random fire bolts? //

Those inside the temple hear and see several fire bolts splash against the walls of the entry hall.