Sleeping Giants Game 51
The finale of the Sleeping Giants campaign.
Intro
Aftermath
It’s been 1 month since the wishes were uttered. A peace has fallen over Dormia, as the war between Vesper and Aurora was ended before it could even begin. An existential threat that most of the population didn’t even know about has been dealt with. The gates to Hell are closed, and shall remain that way in perpetuity.
On the western-most coast, the Palace of Sulta Ixen has been completely destroyed. A construction team is working, day and night, to rebuild it in all its old glory. General Hector has not been seen or heard since the catastrophic explosion, and is presumed dead. Jaha Zephyrinius has been reinstated as a teacher at his old school, but he declined a promotion so he could continue to work with the students directly.
Across the mountains, in Riverlake, the city has all but succumbed to anarchy. With King Simon dead, and many Vesperian officials and guards having not returned from the war, the lower class has risen up in an attempt to ransack the nicer neighborhoods in the city. A group of surviving members of the Vesperian military have self-organized to establish order, led by a former Steel Soldier named Tom. When the riots broke out, Barb the Administrator filled an entire wagon with armor and weapons and fled the city on horseback. She hasn’t been seen since.
When the earthquake hit Stir Peak, the entire mountain crumbled. It buried the settlement at its base under countless layers of rubble, including its citizens. Reshala Leoro did not dash for the exit as the mountain fell around her, but rather attempted to rescue those deeper in the caves. She did not succeed, and was soon crushed along with everyone else. Soon after, the miles-wide white dome appeared. It has gone largely unnoticed thus far, except by a pair of researchers. On the western side of the dome, Sanura “Sara” Atem and her small research team has set up an encampment to investigate the strange entity. And on the eastern side, unaware of the other researchers, Acilia Macrinus has created a small facility of her own.
In the Daryen forest, all manner of wildlife has moved in to reclaim the area once known as Paladin’s Retreat. Of them, perhaps the most significant is a set of 3 owlbear cubs, their parents having abandoned them. Further south, in the forest thorpe of Greenidge, Mayor Acwulf has installed new locks on the doors and windows of his private study. He has yet to re-alphabetize his library, however.
To the west only a few miles, the village of Oakhurst thrives. Ever since the nearby threat has been dealt with, and the village has allied with the nearby kobolds, Oakhurst has become a bit of a destination itself. Lady Hucrele scurries around her general store, trying to restock the shelves between the steady flow of customers coming into the shop. Dem Nackle, the priestess of Erathis, has commissioned a new altar to replace the old one, with the symbols of Erathis and Thalos side-by-side. Mayor Vurnor Leng welcomes a visiting family to the town, offering them a discount at the Lil Boar Inn.
Underground, at Fort Nile, Zelda and Resk discuss plans for increasing their Underdark hunting yields. A new brood of kobolds has just been born, over doubling the fort’s population. One of the other kobolds approaches Zelda with a detailed plan to create a fungus farm, which they all agree will provide more than enough food. When asked how he came up with the idea, the kobold states that “Lyla Hellebore!” gave him a detailed lesson in botany.
Snygnest and his svirfneblin accompanied Meepo as he delved into the Underdark, looking for Calcryx. A week later, the svirfneblin returned, reporting that Meepo mounted the white dragon and the two vanished in a flash of light. With the threat of the Icy Death gone, the svirfneblin returned to their homeland, but remain close allies with the kobolds of Fort Nile. Michelle Fairway, the fort’s Skyhammer liaison, makes regular patrols to keep tabs on the svirfneblin.
On the surface, a woman kneels down at a grave site, situated in a small cemetery. Three of the gravestones are a bit older, and read “Sharwyn”, “Talgen”, and “Karakas”. As she stands and backs away from the fourth gravestone, its label becomes clear as well. “Here lies Horatio Langford, Seeker of the Truth”
The woman turns around and we see that it is Shann, the scroll merchant of the Nightweb. She begins walking toward a man standing not 15 feet away. He is dressed in nondescript clothing with a hood covering his face. A small cherry appears inside the hood, followed by a puff of smoke.
“Well, that should settle that then, eh Kirk?”
