Well, one thing is for sure – if the Kreegs didn’t know that the party was coming before, they certainly do now. Nobody comes out to challenge them, however, so the party takes a quick minute to compose themselves and assess the situation.
Fobias spends a minute investigating the stanky pit to the east. He drops a gold piece down the chasm, which falls for a hundred feet before reaching the bottom. With no signs of magic or unusual contents (apart from the stench), he is content with leaving this be for the time being.
A cursory perusal through the bodies doesn’t yield anything significant either. Krask’s rummaging nets him about a hundred gold pieces, but no magical pieces of armor or powerful weapons.
Understanding the ever-ticking clock, Trace tries to spur the party onwards. There are three potential paths they can go down, and the consensus is to head south. Since the ogre reinforcements came from that direction, the logic is that maybe there will be minimal resistance left. They enter the enormous chamber, which is littered with half-forged weapons and giant anvils. Fobias, Fyn, Trace, and Krask head down the adjoining tunnels to make sure that they’re not going to get ambushed. Each of the mining tunnels ends at an iron ore deposit.
After Barnaby finds a whip in the forging area, the party puts two and two together – these ogres were being worked to the bone creating weapons for an small army. Is the army here or elsewhere? That remains to be seen.
Satisfied with their findings, the party continues to the north. The path forks in two directions again; one leads up to a disgusting-looking shrine and the other is flanked by chiseled statues. To the shrine!
As the party nears, they realize that there is a figure standing on a pile of bones in the middle of the room in front of the shrine. With its gray skin, icy claws and burning blue eyes, the figure bears all of the tell-tale signs of a wight. Jak, however, nearly falls to his knees as he realizes that one of his nightmares is coming true: the wight is none other than Commander Lamatar.
The figure pulls back its bowstring and fires an arrow directly at Jak. Despite the party’s attempts at diplomacy, the Commander’s mind seems to be too far gone to listen to their reason. Fyn slows down Lamatar’s movements while the rest of the group rushes up to disarm and incapacitate him. Krask’s arrows finally knock out the wight, and the party has a decision to make.
Should they try and ‘cure’ Commander Lamatar or put him out of his misery. They think back to Myriana’s comments that she just needs a piece of Lamatar to bring him back to life. Fobias and Trace finish the job and the Commander breathes his last.
Jak is torn and distraught. The Commander was his mentor and role model; how could Jak ever fill those shoes and return the Black Arrows to their former glory? Does he have what it takes to rebuild them? Fobias seems to think so, and his consoling efforts win some definite brownie points with Jak.
They put Lamatar’s body in the Bag of Holding and check out the shrine. It is clearly in Lamashtu’s image, but besides the obvious signs of desecration and foulness, there’s nothing else to be had here. With heavier hearts, they head towards the statues with Fyn’s lights dancing around them.
This hallway opens up into a massive chamber, whose ceiling is partially cutaway to the night sky above. Smoke and branches obscure the party’s view of the night sky, but their eyes would be drawn to something more dire than the natural beauty of Hook Mountain…
Ahead, sitting on the throne, is a huge stone giant. In front of him, another stone giant is hoisting a large boulder as if preparing to hurl it towards the party. Next to the giant is a familiar lamia – Lucrecia. She is standing amongst a pile of shattered wine glasses, her once-regal hair disheveled. The stone giant on the throne raises his hands towards the group encroaching on his territory.
“Deal with these mites. They’ve caused enough trouble for me!”
What are the Kreegs preparing for with all of these weapons? Who is this fearsome stone giant? Does the party have any chance of defeating these three when they couldn’t even take on Lucrecia by herself?