Time for research mechanics! The Therassic Library is comprehensive and complex, which means that Fyn is able to use its many resources to learn quite a bit of information about Karzoug. The party spends sixteen straight hours researching the topic, finally making a significant breakthrough in the latter half of their studies. Fyn reseals the stone wall to provide them a modicum of privacy.
Karzoug was the Runelord of Greed. While he was, himself, an Azlanti human, he was a powerful man indeed—said to be the most gifted manipulator of Transmutation magic in all of Thassilon, and to have lived for hundreds of years. He ruled a region called Shalast, part of the ancient empire of Thassilon, over 10,000 years ago.
Karzoug’s armies were composed primarily of giants who followed his every command—the giants were ruled by towering monsters known as rune giants, who were themselves runelord pawns. Karzoug counted other powerful creatures as his allies as well, such as blue dragons, eerie denizens from the nightmare realm of Leng, blood-drinking outsiders known as scarlet walkers, and immense lamia harridans who towered over most giants.
Karzoug focused his magic on the school of transmutation, magic associated in Thassilonian times with the virtue of wealth. Under his reign, though, this virtue of rule became more associated with the sin of greed. Among the runelords, his mastery of greed magic was uncontested, yet in the schools of illusion and enchantment (related to the sins of pride and lust), his skills had atrophied greatly. Many believed that weapons infused with illusion and enchantment magic, known as “dominant weapons,” would be particularly potent against Karzoug, yet no record of someone attacking the runelord with such a weapon exists within the library.
Minor Delay in the Research
At this point, the Curator gets incredibly excited and pleased to have researchers in the library once more. In its eagerness to assist, it loses track of the key used to wind it up. The construct is stricken with terror at the thought of winding down just when its services are finally needed again, and begs the PCs to assist in locating the precious key. The key was knocked off its peg and accidentally kicked under a chair. Krask is able to locate it, which prompts the automaton to give him the title, “Master Krask, Giver of Life.”
Karzoug warred with his neighbors, but none more so than Alaznist, the Runelord of Wrath and ruler of Bakrakhan. Between their nations, along a ridge known as the Rasp, Karzoug built immense sentinel statues to watch over Bakrakhan, while Alaznist built towers called Hellfire Flumes to prevent Karzoug’s armies from invading. Citizens of both nations worried that the war between Karzoug and Alaznist would soon escalate to the point where they could bring about the end of the world.
As Karzoug and Alaznist’s war intensified, and as wars between other runelords threatened more than just their armies, the runelords devised methods in which they could escape the world and enter a state of suspended animation, so they could ride out cataclysms. In theory, their surviving minions would then waken them to reclaim their empires once the cataclysms had ended.
Conna – An Unlikely Ally
As the party concludes their research, the stone wall opens up again. Much to their surprise, an old and angular stone giant woman is on the other side. She holds her hands out in front of her in a non-threatening manner.
She claims that if the party is in Jorgenfist to slay Mokmurian, then she is their ally. Because of the trail of destruction and bodies, the party’s existence is well-known and the fortress is already on high-alert. Reluctantly, the party lets her in and she reseals the stone wall behind her.
When asked why she is defecting sides, she takes the obsidian pendant from her neck and throws it to the floor. Fyn and Krask are paralyzed with fear as a stone giant emerges from the necklace. He shrieks out in pain as he is suddenly flayed from head to toe. Angrily, the image goes to smash Krask, but it goes right through the kobold before the image fades back into the necklace.
The female stone giant, who introduced herself as Conna the Wise, tells the story of her husband being ritually sacrificed when Mokmurian took over. Although she cannot directly oppose the tribe’s leader, she has a small grassroots movement of stone giants awaiting her command for rebellion. They await her orders.
If the party can confront Mokmurian, she can lead these giants to win back the tribe. The rest of her information is slightly cryptic and incomplete. Mokmurian is a runt, but a capable spellcaster. Besides his obsession with the library, he has multiple dogs and another creature in a birdcage.
Unleash the Dogs of War
Conna leaves back to the east, and the sound of dogs erupts from the other end of the corridor. The door opens and three floating dogs charge around the corner towards the party. Behind them? The zombie hill giant that got away during the fight with the Headless Lord.
Fyn prepares a quick summoning spell as Trace and Fobias charge towards their enemies. Unfortunately, these aren’t your ordinary dogs. They are able to blink, turn invisible, and reappear in the angular corners of the walls in an instant. The first one gets behind the party while the other two engage the melee characters in the middle of the hallway.
Krask is filled with a newfound energy and rapidly fires arrows in all directions, reacting to his environment with ease. Additionally, Fobias tries to collapse a portion of the tunnel but it only seeks to hinder the ‘landwalker’ hill giant. In a matter of seconds, another ally appears in the form of a hulking smilodon – the result of Fyn’s casting.
Despite the slashing gaze of the dogs and their ferocious bites, the party manages to control the battlefield with ease. One by one, their barks are snuffed out until only the hill giant remains. It stupidly charges into the fray and hardly lasts a moment.
But the sounds of battle have hardly died down when the Curator’s voice chimes up behind the party.
“Welcome back to the Therassic Library. I look forward to conducting additional research with you.”
A ten-foot tall stone giant decked out in expensive decorative armor is approaching the party from the library they just left.
Who is this giant newcomer? How did they get into the Library? What’s the total death count for dogs in this campaign now?