Savior
Chapter 18
They found a large, empty room. "This is not good," Roy told them, "not at all." And he spread out, looking around. Kate came downstairs and went left, but she saw something. "There's a secret door here," she told them and searched to open it.
The only light in the space was what little came through from the main room. Roy went first and found another door at the other end of a short hallway that opened onto an empty room with an opening to the left. Roy and Rick turned left and entered another empty room save for a locked door. "Kate, we need you."
Kate came forward, cast Knock on the door, and watched as it swung open. They saw seven chests in that room. Roy, Rick, and Lanie searched the chests and found 13,000 copper, 27,300 silver, 7,140 gold, 27 copper ingots worth 400 coppers each, 11 ivory tusks worth 1,000 gold each, and 980 gems worth an estimated ten gold each. The other chest was empty.
They left the tusks since they took up too much space, and also left all of the copper. They saw a lowered Portcullis, peered through it, and saw a corridor going to the right. They looked for one but couldn't find a lever to open it. So they lifted it a little, and Kate scurried under. But instead of finding a lever, she stumbled on a secret door.
She cast Knock on it, went inside, and saw a large chest, a small iron box, and two small coffers. She opened the chest and was amazed at the sight of so much gold. "I found gold, lots and lots of gold. I need you to pass your backpacks to me," Kate told them.
Roy, Rick, and Lanie handed over their backpacks after Roy and Rick lifted them up a little.
Kate went back into the room and began shoveling in gold. After that, she cast Knock on the iron box and found platinum pieces. One small coffer held gems: 41 at 100 gold each, 13 at 500 gold each, and eight at 1,000 gold each. The other coffer held 17 pieces of jewelry worth 500 gold each.
She returned and told them there were stairs leading up. Roy and Rick lifted the portcullis just enough for her to pass off the backpacks and scurry beneath it. They realized their backpacks were almost full of gold. "I don't know how much it is, but it's a lot," Kate told them.
They returned to the main room and saw three openings and two doors. They chose to take the door to the right first that opened onto a dozen of whatever they were. They attacked them since they weren't Orcs and killed them with no damage taken.
The next room held another twelve of them, and the next room held a dozen more. They killed all of them with no damage taken.
There was another room with ten sitting around a table discussing something. Only one managed to hit anyone. The others all died quickly with no damage taken.
They took the next door and stumbled on prison cells. In number one, they found a human male who sounded insane. Cell two was empty. Cell three held a skeleton chained to the wall. Cell four was also empty. They left the area and would rescue him later if they remembered.
They decided to go down the main wide corridor that ended in a tee with a door right across the way. They realized the three doors in this corridor were barred on the outside by a big iron bar.
"I wonder why?" Roy muttered. "Do we open them or not?"
"I say not," Rick declared. "Why ask for trouble? If the Hill Giants thought what was behind them was worth locking them in, we should leave it that way."
"So, where is everyone?" Roy asked them since they had reached the end.
"Mayhap out on a raid?" Rick offered.
"Then we need to leave before they return," Roy declared. "There were a lot of empty barracks." So they retreated until they were outside and where they could watch the main entrance. Meanwhile, they started counting coins.
Lanie blinked, then announced the total. "There's 23,800 gold here. That's amazing!"
"That's, that's…94,750 gold in total, not to mention the silver. That makes it 15,791 each plus one gold. That's incredible!" Roy exclaimed with some excitement.
"We're rich! I mean, like RICH!" Rick picked Kate up, swung her around, then kissed her right on the mouth. Of course, she kissed him back. "We're rich, Flame!" And Rick kissed him, too.
oo0O0oo
"And here they come," Roy told them. "Looks like 18 Hill Giants and one Chief. It's all on you, Kate."
Kate nodded. She was ready and cast Fireball, and it hit among them. They didn't scatter. They took out their weapons and looked around. Then, they saw a small red ball headed their way that blew up in a Fireball again.
She killed eight of them. The Chief and the remaining Hill Giants ducked inside and closed the door on their dead.
They waited an hour and then moved in, but Kate cast Fireball on the tower and blew it to bits, killing another Hill Giant.
They searched the dead Hill Giants and found lots of fruit: oranges, tangerines, grapes, dates, lemons, limes, avocados, and artichokes. There were some gold, silver, and copper pieces as well. They took the gold and silver but left the copper pieces. They would count it later. The group retreated far enough away to not worry about Hill Giants.
They counted the coins and came up with 5,346 gold and 8,978 silver, making it another 891 gold per person and 1,496 silver per person plus one.
They now had 16,682 gold per person plus silver.
No one went up a level after this encounter, but they were closer now.
oo0O0oo
They continued into the mountain and stopped to ready camp in their five-by-five tent for the night. It was Lanie's and Javier's turn to use the bed. Javier might seem like he wasn't doing much, but he was doing something. Roy, Rick, and Kate were the leaders of this group.
They ate trail rations and wished they had stopped in the Hill Giant kitchen and helped themselves to what they had. But they did have a few fresh oranges, grapes, and dates.
After doing their business that morning, they packed everything, took down the tent, and started walking deeper into the mountain.
They zigzagged through the mountain until they came to a sort of Castle. They stopped to study it and waited to see who might be occupying it. It wasn't long before they found out.
"There! A Hill Giant, a female." Roy pointed at her. They watched as she came out, collected some produce from a small garden and then went back inside.
Rick watched her closely. "Now we know it's Hill Giants for certain."
"The question is, are they all inside or are they outside on a raid?" Javier said.
"That is the question," Roy agreed. They decided to stay until nightfall and watched.
oo0O0oo
They waited until it was very late at night before they moved in. But the door was locked. So Kate cast Knock on it, and it crashed open. They entered and saw a large hall with twelve columns holding the ceiling up. They noticed murals on the walls, saw five doors, and an opening leading to stairs going up on either side.
They watched as a Hill Giant stepped out of the room on the left to see what the noise was.
Immediately, Javier and Meredith attacked him. He tried to punch back but missed Javier. They swung again, and they killed him. They entered the room, searched it, and found more gold, silver, and copper pieces, and something that required Kate to cast Detect Magic on it. She did so and said yes, it was magical. They kept it for later.
They went to the first door on the right, opened it, and saw a church. The type of church was a question mark. All the walls were bare, the murals removed, and the altar at the head partially destroyed.
"Then this was not something a Hill Giant made," Roy realized. "Rather, it was taken over by them."
They went down to the next door, opened it, and they saw barrels of Ale, Mead, and Wine. Foodstuffs were everywhere they looked. Though not as good as the last place, it would do.
Then they took the next door, opened it, and found a dining hall with two tables and benches for seating. There was a fireplace on the far wall.
They crossed to the next door, opened this one, and saw a kitchen with a female Hill Giant preparing breakfast. Roy and Rick rushed her, attacked, and ended her.
They saw fresh meat and sausages hanging from the ceiling and just baked bread on the table. There was dried fruit in a barrel. There was a fireplace on the far wall with a pot sitting in the fire, simmering something.
They reached the end and saw three doors to the left and an opening leading to stairs going up to the right.
They took the first door and found a sleeping Ogre. Rick slit its throat for it. The next door had a sleeping Ogre, and Rick also slit its throat.
The next door opened onto a conference room with papers spread out everywhere. They left there and went upstairs.
Once up there, they saw six doors. There were three on this side and three more on the other side of an open great room with a dozen columns holding up the roof.
The first door turned out to be an armory. Kate cast Detect Magic and said there was one Battleaxe that was Magical. Javier took it and left his Greataxe behind.
They saw a door was a closet, and the following one had a sleeping Ogre in it; Rick slit its throat. They crossed the way to the first door and found a sleeping Ogre. Rick slit its throat as well.
There was another door, but it turned out to be a closet. The next one turned out to be another sleeping Ogre, and Rick slit his throat too.
There were eight doors down in the grand room. They opened the first one and saw a sleeping Hill Giant, whose throat Rick slit. The others stayed outside, where they saw a door open and a Hill Giant come out of it three doors down.
He sounded the alarm and then ran inside his room to retrieve his weapon.
"That tears it," Roy told them.
Almost as one, each of the seven doors opened, and Hill Giants made their presence known. They rushed them, yelling and screaming. Kate cast Fireball on them and caught three of them in the blast. The rest of them and those three made it to them.
They all swung and missed every one of them. Kate backed up five feet so as not to get hit.
Roy, Lanie, Meredith, and Javier swung their weapons and hit them, causing damage.
They swung back, and only Javier got hit this time.
Roy, Lanie, Meredith, and Javier swung their weapons and did the damage. Kate cast Magic Missile and killed one of the ones she hit with a Fireball.
They all swung and missed everyone but Javier again.
Roy, Lanie, Meredith, and Javier each swung and killed most of them. Kate cast Magic Missile and ended the last one.
"Well, that was fun." But Roy meant not a word of it. They searched their rooms and found some gold, silver, and copper pieces they would count later.
They left the same way they got in. They moved some distance away from there and counted coins while Kate cast Identify and told Javier it was a +3 Battle-axe. It just became his favorite weapon until he found something better.
They counted 1,234 gold and 3,344 silver pieces, making it 205 gold per person plus one and 567 silver per person plus one.
Only Javier went up a level after this encounter. He was now an eighth-level Dragon Disciple. He gained an Ability Increase, a feat, and some skill points.
They set up the tent and slept. Come the morning, they went out to take care of personal business. They then packed up, took down the tent, and moved on.
They found the road again and headed north for the town of Nashkel. They stopped at a general store, purchased some trail rations, and then went to The Northern Light, an inn and tavern. They got three rooms and ate dinner. They retired to their respective rooms, where Rick and Kate made love, and so did Roy and Lanie.
In the morning, after using the bathroom, they paid for a hot bath and to have their clothes cleaned. They ate breakfast, and then they talked.
"Do we try to find this White Dragon?" Roy asked them. "We know nothing of its size or how old it is. It could well be the last thing we ever do."
Rick raised an eyebrow. "We bought all of these winter clothes for nothing if we don't."
"I'm game to try," Javier said.
"I'm game as well," Meredith told them.
"That's that, I guess. We try and find this White Dragon. I just hope it's not too old or too big," Roy told them. "We'll need more trail rations since we don't know how long this will take us. And make sure everyone has enough winter clothing."
"I've got two layers of clothing, my coat, gloves, beanie, and snow blindness goggles," Kate told them. "So don't worry."
Everyone agreed that they had what they needed. "Well, there's no time like the present," Roy stated, walking back toward the mountain.
"Have we got climbing gear?" Javier asked them, and Roy made a detour to the closest general store, where they bought rope, pitons, and ice axes.
Now, they were ready to try and find this White Dragon at last.
oo0O0oo
They ran across a group of Hill Giants going somewhere, so they followed them from a distance. They lost them, but it wasn't long before Rick picked up their trail.
They stopped when they came across a partially ruined castle-like structure. The entire right side was lying in ruins. The tracks led to the front door. They decided to wait for nightfall and go in from the ruined side.
They chose to enter from the rear door of the three they saw. They opened the door and saw a dining hall with one large table and benches for seating. There were three doors.
They took the one on the right first, which was the closest. They saw an empty chapel dedicated to they didn't know who.
They moved to the next door, opened it, and found a kitchen. It was empty except for some foodstuffs, which reminded them of the last place. They saw an opening ahead, went there, and they saw three sleeping Giants.
Rick slit their throats open. A quick search of the room showed them gold, silver, and copper pieces. They saw a door and went through, up a set of stairs, and then down a set of stairs and entered a room with three more sleeping Giants.
Rick ended all three by slitting their throats. After quickly searching the room, they found gold, silver, and copper pieces. They saw a door, went through it, and entered an empty room.
They went through the door and saw a grand entry with a double set of stairs going up and a door to their left. They opened the door and found a storeroom with barrels full of Ale, Mead, and Wine. It took them a moment to notice the foodstuffs.
They went up the stairs and turned left since going right was out because that side was in ruins.
They saw a door and a corridor with a door in it. The corridor ended in a tee. So they took the first door, opened it, and saw a conference room with maps and papers spread out on a table.
They moved to the next room, where they encountered a Hill Giant in armor picking up his weapon. Roy and Rick attacked him and hit him, doing damage to him.
He swung back and struck Roy, doing damage to him.
Roy and Rick fought back, hit him, and damaged him.
The Hill Giant swung again, hit Roy a second time, and caused damage to him.
Roy and Rick swung hard, struck him, and ended him. They quickly searched the room and found gold, silver, and copper pieces.
They came upon three sleeping Hill Giants to the right, and Rick slit their throats. Searching the room fast, they found gold, silver, and copper pieces.
In the next room, they saw three more sleeping Hill Giants. As before, Rick slit their throats. A hurried search of the room showed them more gold, silver, and copper pieces.
They left through the front door and went far away from there, where they set up the tent, ate trail rations, and counted their coins.
They came up with 1,566 gold and 2,455 silver pieces, which meant another 261 gold each and 409 silver pieces each plus one.
They slept and woke up in the morning. As usual, they went outside to do their business, then came inside the tent to pack up, take down the tent, and head out.
They needed to find that White Dragon, which meant going up high. In all likelihood, very, very high. It wouldn't be easy, and they didn't know if it was the correct peak.
They were guessing here but thought it would be in Mount Speartop at 14,500 feet (4,420 meters) above sea level. Hopefully, not at the top, but close enough to it.
No one gained a level after that encounter.