Storm King's Thunder

“My name is Delsephine. This is Nyzroth, Brassik, Laz, and Oriskus. Perella, Tralt, and Zalthia are below deck.” She indicates the various crew members. They are apparently able crew, if a rather humorless lot. “Feel free to take a look around. The quarters below deck will be a little cramped.”

Crownsguard processes those names, “Right. Those are very complicated. I will work to remember these.”

Flint beams at seeing Rip reunited with his kids then the weight 

Flint looks to the cultist leader as the weight of her speech and Ink's response sinks jn. "Enemy o' me enemy, aye? But ah'll'na  go s'far as ta call'im  friend. Ah'm  Flint."

Meanwhile, Kara and Rooney are talking Rip’s ears off. 

“...and hey dad, did you know that there is this underground monster...”

“...daddy, daddy, I made a friend and it was a little girl and we played with dolls but her mama was very grumpy...”

“...where were you? Is mama okay?”

“...and there were there HUGE giants that threw rocks and stuff...”

“...and we flew in the sky! There were clouds there right next to us...”

“I’m cold!”

“I’m thirsty!”

Ink looks at the reunion and quietly smiles.

He then tells Rip, "It's a serendipitous event; I'm glad for you. We have the extra travel clothes if you want to add some layers to your children's clothing. Perhaps you should fly them inside to one of our campsites and relight the fire. Harshnag would be excited to meet them, I'm sure. Take whatever time you need. Also, it might be helpful if you ask them for details of their adventures - it seems like they've seen a lot."

Then turning to Flint, Ink responds,  "I agree, the enemy of my enemy could be an ally - a temporary one at least. We should take advantage of this."

"Where did you find the children? Were there more there?" Marav questions. 

"You follow a red... you realize that doesn't garner our trust. I have found that ancient dragons, especially red have interests that don't usually align with our own. If he wants us to kill the leaders of the giants then we need to figure out why and whether or not it is in our best interest." He glares at the crew one by one, meeting their gazes.

Ink stands close next to Marav and just whispers to him, "In all fairness, the All-Father did say 'Several evil giant lords stand ready to oppose you. You can ruin all of their plans by defeating just one of them.' But I agree - red dragons are a dangerous sort."

He then observes the cultists, and replays their speech in his head, he's trying to figure out if they believe in what their saying...  

// Insight? 12 //

One of the other crewmen, Laz, scoffs at Marav. “‘A red,’ you say? ‘A red,’ as if Klauth is just another dragon? He is the master of the north! The all-seeing one!”

Delsephine quells her fellow’s protests with a gesture and speaks frankly. “Klauth simply wanted us to deliver this gift to you, and to expedite your travels. No strings attached, and with a reward promised if you succeed in stopping the giant threat. How you go about your business is your business. We are under orders to take you wherever you wish to go. Maybe starting with somewhere safe for these children,” she says. It’s obvious from her tone that her concerns for the children are more utilitarian than compassionate.

As far as Ink can tell, they seem to be candid and straightforward, but their motivations are anyone’s guess.

"Well, we could always use a lift," Ink says. "I agree about making sure the kids are safe, first."

"Rip, where do you want to take your children? And, before we leave, did any of you want to see where that crevice went in the northern room? Did any of you want to ask questions tomorrow?" 

Marav just looks at Laz his eyes never wavering. "I stand corrected."

Insight: 15

//Can we trust them? Are they appearing to plan to murder us, etc

Ink says, "Normally, I'd invite you all in, but given the iconography you wear, that may be a bit blasphemous given where we're at. We may be here most of the day - we had a rough morning and we have to digest some things we learned. My name is Ink by the way."

He walks up and to shake Delsephine's hand and asks her quietly, "You all weren't part of that 'raising Tiamat' business I heard rumors about down south, were you? I've heard your order is pretty big, and not everyone sees eye to eye to eye, so to speak."

Ink, regardless of the response, reacts stoicly simply nodding. 

He tells the others, "I'm going inside to see Harshnag about that map. Maybe resummon Quill if we'll be out flying about. Think about what I asked a bit ago and let me know."

While inside, Ink will complete his sketches and descriptions of the temple as he talks to Harshnag. He tried to recreate on paper the images of all the God statues in the main hall, as well as the stone giant golem and the cloud giant statue in the second floor. He'll also resummon Quill. 

Marav can sense some sincerity when the cultists speak of Klauth. Their motives don’t seem very suspect.

Delsephine replies to Ink, “To be honest, we have been serving Klauth for years now. I try to leave that part of my life behind me.”

The cultists have no desire to enter a temple to the giant god. “We’ll be fine here. Just let us know when you want to go. Bring whatever you have for provisions as well, so we won’t have to stop just to restock.”

"You're mother is fine, so is pops was nana with you? i have some warm clothes for you in the temple, I met those giants. unpleasant sorts weren't they? Ooh underground? I recently did battle with a large beast myself, I'll show it to you later. I'm glad you made a friend! I was able to spend time on a floating castle in the clouds myself! it's terrifying and exhilarating at the same time isn't it? I have a friend inside i want you to meet." Rip turns to Delsaphine "thank you for bringing my children to me, we need to discuss where we need to go next if you don't mind, nice to hear that even the great Klauth is a fan by the way!" 

with that Rip will fly his children into the temple to introduce his kids to Harshnag and the rest of the party

The children giggle as Rip flies them into the temple, and then fall silent at the sheer vastness of the complex. 

“Dad...” Rooney says when you land, putting on a brave face that you know he must have practiced a thousand times recently, “Nana died. She got sick and never got better.” His brow furrows as he talks, an effort at being stoic.

Rip lets out a deep sad sigh "Its ok, we'll get back at those bad giants responsible. Right now some bad giants are making the other giants misbehave. I found a good giant who wants to help us, just yesterday he wrestled a Dragon!"

Harshnag meets you just outside the feast hall. “Here it is, the finished map. I’m not the best artist or cartographer, but this should get you where you’re going!” He hands you a scrap of paper that is easily as big as Rip, on which he has marked the location of each Uthgardt burial mound. 

As he hands it over, his eyes land on Kara and Rooney. “Were these halflings children here before?”

"these are my children, Rooney and Kara. Rooney, Kara this is my friend Harshnag the Grim! it is 'the grim' right?"

Harshnag smiles down at the children. “Yes, ‘The Grim.’ A name given me, oh, over a century ago. Hello young ones!” 

Then, as if concerned, he says, “Rip, are these the children you were searching for? I’m confused. Where did you find them?”

"oh, about that... so Klauth the dragon of the north turns out to be a fan of mine, and as a fan he rescued my children and gave me a skyship. He also thinks the bad giant lords should be made dead. I agree, but trust him about as far as i can throw you. it's a, as crownsguard would put it, 'do not look a gift airship in the incredibly dubious intentions' kind of situation"

Crownsguard interjects, “That is a strange saying. It does not sound like something that I would say.” Long pause, looks into the camera, “Do you think that we should state that Harshnag is with us? I do not imagine that they would be overly fond of such a fact.”