RECAP
The group, standing over the fallen bodies of the Fog Giants, decided to question one of them who was still unconscious. Enzo probed his mind and we extracted enough info to find out that there was a village of giants and that one of them possessed the ability to commune with "The Mountain." We also found out there are "stone men" living in the mountains themselves and that there is a mighty dragon named "Silver Eyes" that patrols the mountaintop. Being the lesser of threats, we figured the giant village to be as a good a place to start as any. Our Rangers tracked the giants back to their village and we set out to travel there. Before leaving, Remy cast a powerful illusion over us disguising us as the giants we killed and Enzo morphed into a giant so he could speak the language. The stealthier among us decided to hide or go invisible, and follow us to the village.
Once we got there, we were intercepted by a greeting party at the village entrance. They began approaching us, led by an ornately decorated older Giant with braided white hair and beard, a finely crafted staff, and a chest tattoo of arched lightning bolts, when suddenly, a group of women and children came running out to greet us. One of the female giants was pregnant and was rushing Zalthor's illusion when Gwen had the brilliant idea to whisper to Enzo and asked him to say that they shouldn't come closer since we were affected by some disease or dark magic. That stopped everyone in their tracks and we made our way to a safe spot at the edge of the village.
We discussed strategy since we hadn't planned very far in advance beyond this point. The plan was simply to get through the village and into the mountains so we could journey to the top and reach the Aeroblade's base. Enzo requested they get the "healer" to buy us some time. It was at this point that the bejeweled elder Giant approached us and began to speak to Enzo. After a minute or so, when the conversation was obviously going south, he whispered to Remy to intimidate him so we wouldn't get discovered as fake's.
Remy dropped his illusion and waved his sword and all the Giant's became frightened. In fact, the leader went running off into the woods in terror while the others backed off, scattered, or headed to their huts. This bought us some time. As a result of the fear, the elder dropped his staff before darting off. Since Cordero was invisible and shadowing us, he decided to pick up the staff in all the chaos. Once held, he followed a hunch that this might be the means of contacting the mountain and tried to activate it mentally. Well, as it turned out, not only did that hunch pay off, but the staff ended up being a direct conduit to almighty Stronmus himself, thus answering our question as to who the arched lightning represented. At this point, all we could see was a floating staff since Cordero was still invisible while holding it. It remained hoisted in the air for a couple minutes while Cordero communed with a greater Deity.
Stronmus questioned Cordero and how he came to possess the staff. Once he figured out he was a Dwarf, traditional friends of the Fog Giants, Stronmus was pleased and commended Cordero on his efforts. He told him that the elder ran in fear and said he would need to be disciplined for his cowardice. Stronmus let Cordero know that his people are trapped on Spec and he wants them freed. Cordero had no choice but to promise to help free the giants if we're able to successfully remove the Aeroblade from the mountaintop base. With that promise, Stronmus released his mental grip on Cordero and agreed to help us reach the Areoblade.
Stronmus commanded Cordero to find the elder and explain the situation. He enchanted the staff to be able to re-size so that Cordero could use it properly. Since the rouse was no longer needed, Remy dropped the illusions on the rest of us and Cordero wrangled the elder from the woods. He returned the staff and Stronmus explained the situation to the elder. In turn, the elder agreed to allow us safe lodging in the village so we could rest and recover. They cleared out a hut and Remy cast a tiny hut within for good measure. We spent 12 hours resting and talking after that, but not a full 8 hours was spent sleeping, so spellcasters haven't recovered their spells, but XP was gained (and levels if anyone got any). Agnax spent this time setting up the bat signal light array to let the ship and captain know we were safe and making progress toward reaching the Aeroblade.
It was the middle of the night when Gwen heard a bunch of giants with raised voices. She cast Tongues to translate and realized there was a heated argument about who to listen to; Stronmus or "The Mountain." The vast majority, I believe 18-3, were in favor of the mountain and not Stronmus. They questioned Stronmus' power so far removed from their world and said they should listen to The Mountain for direction and guidance. Gwen woke us and informed us what was happening. After Cordero communed again with Stronmus using the staff, we all decided we'd sneak off into the night and avoid a conflict. Stronmus requested no more of his people be harmed in our efforts, since those previously lost was in self-defense. Since the hut we were sleeping in was on the outskirts of the village, we snuck off undetected. We regrouped somewhere further north towards the edge of the mountains. That's where we left off.
