Giant Plots, Part 2
March 15th, 2011
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another exciting Grave Plots, where we bring you new and exciting adventure ideas and plot hooks each and every week. This week, as promised, we will be continuing our exposé on plot hooks involving giants, with a look at the hill, stone, and storm giants.
Hill Giants
Giants of the Great Southern Basin
Typically, hill giant tribes don’t wander far from the temperate hills they call home, but when the raiding is better elsewhere they will occasionally depart their natural environment in favor of more generous pickings. Fortunately, for those lucky enough to live in other climates such events are rare and so hill giant raids are not something one usually has to worry too much about. Unfortunately for the inhabitants of the sweltering agricultural center that makes up the Great Southern Basin, such hill giant raids are rare, and so they were completely unprepared for what was to come.
Among the hill giant chieftains of the middle lands, there was one whose strength and brutality exceeded all others: Gorger. To the world’s great misery, Gorger was also a strong leader and gifted general. Under his banner, the hill giant clans were united and began to wreak havoc throughout the smaller communities in the middle lands. Over time, the easy picking in the middle lands began to dry up and Gorger could no longer raid there without attacking one of the great cities and their armies. As picking became slimmer in the middle lands Gorger’s troops began to grow restless, and in the face of mutiny, Gorger promised his people great wealth and easy pickings in the near future. In order to deliver on his promise, he turned his eyes south to the rich and abundant lands of the Great Southern Basin.
The hill giant tribes descended on the unprepared Great Southern Basin like a hammer, sacking their farms and villages, and spreading terror in their wake. The people tremble in fear of the giant horde and desperately call out for heroes, while the local governors and nobility hire mercenaries from the north to deal with the giants.
Negotiations with Gurg
In some rare cases, a hill giant will shun his traditional roots, giving up the life of savage raiding and deadly pillaging in favor of a more civilized lifestyle, sometimes even attaching themselves to a frontier town or small backwater settlement. One such giant, by the name of Gurg, left his tribe after being ridiculed by his brothers for his gentle nature and settled on the outskirts of the town of Hewen. Life was tough for Gurg at first but now, after many years, Hewen has come to accept Gurg as one of their own, and his bakery is considered one of the best for miles around.
Now Gurg’s former tribe has been seen operating in the hills near Hewen and the town mayor has asked that he intercede with his own kind on their behalf. Gurg is willing but frightened and so has hired the PCs to escort him to his father, the clan chief. The PCs are expected to help Gurg deal with his brothers (who Gurg is certain will try to kill him), and in the event of his death, continue the negotiation without him.
Orc Raids
An orc army has been seen on the move throughout the hills to the north of the township of Finnder, and according to the lookouts they are on their way there. Calling out to the town’s greatest champions, the PCs, Finnder has made ready for the worst. At dusk the orcs arrive – curiously, out of combat formation and carrying a flag of truce. Assuming the PCs don’t sound the attack, the orc flag bearer asks (in somewhat broken Common) to speak with the human leader, and the townsfolk point to the PCs.
The orc chief then proceeds to explain that he is looking for allies in an upcoming battle and that he has come to the human folk because they share a mutual enemy: the giants in the nearby hills, who raid the human settlements and enslave orckind. The Orcs have had enough and the chief asks the PCs to join him in a campaign to free his people. In exchange, he promises to contribute to the defense of the human community.
Stone Giant
Poachers
While it is a commonly known fact that goat herds can be found throughout the mountains, it is a well-kept secret that these herds are actually being tended by various communities of stone giants, something that the PCs are about to find out, much to their chagrin. While traveling through the mountains one day, the PCs elect to make a dinner out of some of the wild goats who, unknown to the PCs, belong to a tribe of stone giants. The stone giants observe the PCs’ theft and decide to take them to task for their unauthorized feast, descending into the valley and arresting them for their theft. Following the PCs’ arrest they are put on a trial and, if found guilty, sentenced to perform some dangerous task for the tribe as penance.
Wandering Giant
The thing stone giants are perhaps best known for are their long life spans; with lives that can be as long as 800 years, stone giants live longer than any other kind of giant. As stone giants get older they tend to leave their mountain communities and go upon a life quest, usually seeking isolation among the oldest mountains, though some stone giants seek out experience, traveling the world and soaking up what’s out there. One such giant, by the name of Cedre, has in his travels heard the names of a group of great heroes who have been gaining ever-increasing fame in the world: the PCs. Cedre is impressed with the PCs and has decided to seek them out and apprentice himself to them, following them on their quests and hearing their advice on how to lead a heroic life. Little do the PCs know that Cedre will play an important role in events to come.
Storm Giants
Giant’s Isle
While on a voyage across the vast sea, the PCs encountered a fearsome southern storm which destroyed their ship and killed the crew. Only by calling upon every ounce of heroics were the PCs able to survive the fierce weather and wash up on the shore of an uncharted tropical island in the middle of the sea. When the PCs awake, they might be astonished to see an immense palace of gold and silver that towers over the rest of the island and shines in the sunlight like the very gates of heaven. As the only sign of habitation the PCs approach the palace and are greeted by its sole inhabitant, a 25-foot tall storm giant called Joren who welcomes them with a voice like thunder. After making introductions and ensuring that the PCs are fed, Joren asks how the PCs came to his island. When they explain about the storm Joren becomes intensely interested, and following their story excuses himself for a few minutes to think.
When Joren returns he has a grave look on his face and addresses the PCs with passion, explaining that he believes the storm to have been a sign and that the PCs’ arrival on his island was indeed no coincidence. He goes on to explain that the storm described, combined with other signs he’s been watching for, indicate the rising of a terrible sea demon. If left unchecked, this demon will destroy the world within the year, and Joren asks that the PCs join him on a quest to repel this evil. Should they accept, the lot of them ride off toward fantastic adventure, fighting elder evils and encountering nightmarish forces. Should the PCs refuse, Joren says he understands and sends them home on a boat he had in storage.
Farm Interests
One day, the PCs receive a strange message from someone claiming to be the lord of Cleres and asking for their help in dealing with a situation developing on some of his most productive farmland there. The letter is unusual because, according to the king’s atlas, Cleres is an unclaimed and uninhabitable wasteland. Curious, the PCs set off for Cleres. Upon arriving, they note that the atlas was probably out of date, as great green fields extend up and down the coastline as far as the eye can see, but cyclopean castles in every shade of violet and gold stand guard over the farmland. When the PCs arrive a page meets them and informs them that Aerocles, Lord of Cleres, will see them in his palace now. The page then escorts them to the storm giant’s castle and Aerocles, resplendent in a breastplate of gold and a shirt of silver, explains that there is an unusual tension arising in the central plantation and asks if the PCs would be kind enough to investigate.
A quick investigation reveals to the PCs the presence of an evil cult dedicated to following the red dragon Hexrenage, who discovered a prophecy that states Aerocles will be responsible for his death. The cult is planning to assassinate Aeroclese, and unless the PCs can stop them, they might just succeed.
Well that’s it for this weeks Grave Plots. Join us next week for more interesting plot ideas. Until then I would like to wish you all the best in your gaming endeavors.