Jo-owrn has you back on the road after a quick breakfast. The Great Western Road runs northeast at this point, close by the west bank of the Canabar River. The snow still impedes your progress, though today the ranger does not leave you behind this time. Humphrey observes the ranger closely.
Again you ride until an hour after dark. Then, abruptly, Jo-owrn wheels his horse to a stop, and sniffs the air. A short distance ahead, faintly illuminated by the light of a four day old moon, you see tracks on the road coming down from the northeast, and abruptly turning off into the woods. The ranger dismounts, and inspects the tracks. Clearly, several people have led their horses off into the woods, presumably to camp for the night, for the tracks in the snow are fresh...and you now all smell a campfire.
You follow the tracks into the woods, and soon come to a camp. In fact, the camp is set in the exact same spot where your party spent a night last summer while travelling this same road. You see two horses, but no people.
"Show yourselves," says Jo-owrn with a smile. "I know you're here."
In answer to his words, two people become visible. One of them is an attractive young woman wearing heavy armour. The other is a slender, slightly built man in the robes of a mage.
"This is a surprise," says the woman with a smile. "I did not think we'd see you again until Strabath."
Jo-owrn waves to your party.
"Ray Jay anticipated us," he says, "And sent these people to meet us. The rest of the trip is unnecessary."
He introduces you to the man and the woman, then introduces them.
"The ranger Leslie, and Tabrina, a warlock," he concludes.
"I think I've already met some of you," says Leslie with a nod to Raz, Illyana and Farad. "That time at Ray Jay's, when I was to accompany you and Vardui to the lower planes to rescue someone."
She turns to Jo-owrn.
"So we can return to the north right away with them?"
Jo-owrn nods.
"If your companion has teleport, the sooner the better."
"I do," Tabrina says in a soft voice. "Would Ar'Razam be good enough?"
"A night in a warm inn is definitely preferable to sleeping on the ground in winter," says Laurie. "I think it's going to be very cold tonight."
Leslie asks you, "Do you people have a problem with teleporting several hundred miles north to a city...or would you rather take the scenic route?"
Farad shakes his head. "We are used to such magics. Teleport away. The less wasted time the better it will be for all of us I imagine."
Raz shakes his head.."Nope, teleporting sounds fine to me."
Jon is a sylvan elf, wearing a warm, heavy cloak, and bulky gloves. There is a longsword hanging from his belt and with eyes shining brightly quickly answers,"Teleport and can I go first?"
Leslie smiles.
"Well, we'll all go together."
"Where is Ar'Razam? I've never heard of it. A town? When we get to this inn, perhaps Jo-owrn could be good enough to detail what he has in mind for us. Ray Jay gave us a summary, but I'd like to make sure his goals and the ranger's match. Our understanding is that we are on a fact finding mission to determine the organization of the drow."
"Ar'razam is a free city to the northwest. It's a very popular place for mages and sages, probably because it is close by the main stronghold of the White Wizards."
Farad is interested in this. "Can non-Wizards go to this stronghold you mentioned?"
"I know of only one man who was ever allowed into their stronghold. They are extremely reclusive," says Jo-owrn.
"Also I'm sure we would all benefit if we knew each other's talents and abilities. Myself, I'm a holy man dedicated to eradicating the evils of this world. I am trained in magic, but as yet can cast only third order spells, but am also trained with the blade. With sword and spell I seek to vanquish my foes and insure that law and justice prevail. The gods apparently share my view, for they have given me gifts of power to aid my quest. I see myself as their paladin, for the gifts they have given me are simular to those of that order. I can heal great wounds for instance, a gift that can not be used for evil. But also I can see something of the future, and walk the pathways of the gods themselves, moving in and away from this material existance."
"I am a ranger," says Jo-owrn.
Ayazin says, "I've always been a fan of the scenic route, myself, but in this case where time is of the essence, I suppose that teleporting would be fine."
Humphrey, a tall and strongly built man in chainmail and a cloak that seems to blend in with his surroundings and has two short swords strapped to his waist, "Teleporting, is a method I have gotten used to and like considerably. Besides we took the scenic route last summer."
The consensus seems to be to teleport, so Leslie opens her pack and takes out two handkerchiefs. At least, they appear to be handkerchiefs, until she unfolds them. Hanging each from convenient tree limbs, when full-sized they appear as black pits in the fabric of spacetime.
"Portable holes," she says by way of explanation, "Help me with the horses, please."
Your mounts are skitterish about entering into such a place, but the other party's mounts have no such complaints, and that, along with the soothing words of the rangers, Ayazin and Beth, encourage the rest of the animals into one of the holes.
When they are all in, Leslie takes down the hole, folds it up and hands it over to Tabrina. The mage takes it and puts it in his pack.
"Into the other one, now, and quickly, please," says Leslie. "There's not a lot of air in one of these things, and I don't want to suffocate the horses!"
All of you but Tabrina pile into the second hole. It is a tight fit. Tabrina closes it up.
You wait.
After a moment he opens it again, and you climb out.
The mage takes out the second hole, and Leslie hurriedly pins it up against a wall, and out pile the horses, in a near state of panic. It takes you nearly ten minutes to calm them down.
You look around.
The first thing you notice is that it is just as cold here as it was in the south...perhaps slightly colder. There is about a foot of snow on the ground, and a light, steady sleet falling out of the sky is slowly adding to that total. The sky here is mostly cloudy - going by the lack of moon and stars, anyway.
You are standing beside a wall, and nearby in the wall is a great gate. Several guards - well bundled against the chill - are standing there regarding you. Recognising Jo-owrn, they wave.
When you are ready, you move over to the gate and present yourselves. The guards seem unconcerned over you, and after chewing the fat with Jo-owrn for a few minutes admit you all into the city of Ar'razam.
You are standing in a square. The road which enters the city through the gate at this point heads straight off deeper into Ar'razam. Jo-owrn, though, heads across the square to a large, rambling inn called The Bow. You follow him, and soon find yourselves comfortably ensconced in the common room, sipping beverages and waiting for dinner to be served. (single room 1gp, dorm 10sp; dinner 1gp for a beefsteak, 5sp for pork pie)
After a few beers and a large slab of rare steak, Jo-owrn, who has been unusually taciturn since Farad cut him off the other day, starts to loosen up.
"It's not much, really," he says, finally answering the grey elf's question about the mission. "Some years back a group of hill giants started threatening the northwest corner of the kingdom of Happy Valley. That's west of here. A group of us went in and cleared the place. We found a magical teleportal which led us to the lair of a large band of frost giants next, so we cleared them out, too. Lo and behold, in that stronghold we found another teleportal which took us to the gates of King Snurre's hold. That is several hundred miles northwest of here, on the border of a region controlled by giants and humanoids - mostly trolls. To the south of there is the Witch's Dale - controlled by the Black Order of the Wizards. Running between the two is the Devil's Road. It's an old great road, but it doesn't see much traffic anymore, not since the Empire fell 600-odd years ago. There really isn't much but wilderness between Happy Valley and the coast, but I still like to keep an eye on things because there's several small towns on the coast that are...ahhh...underdefended. Plus, what with the problems the elves have been having down south the past few years, I'd rather not have the giants stepping in and adding to their troubles.
"Anyway, this past summer I started seeing signs that giants were straying farther afield than they had been for the past 20 years. Saw tracks down near Dortleburg - that's an abandoned town on the Devil's Road - and even tracked a bunch of fellows down into Long Valley. We did them in, of course, and found clues that they were definitely from the Land of the Giants. I paid a visit to Snurre's old stomping grounds, and sure enough they're occupied again.
"So," the ranger concludes, "I'd like some help in clearing them out. My people are stretched a bit thin right now - troll troubles in the North, orcs crossing out of Urguth and such; and Leslie's people are busy scouting the Ruined Realm. A little help would be much appreciated."
"Sounds like we get to go a giant killing. That could be fun. We just will let Farad attack them first," Kelar says, smiling at Farad. "So about how many giants are we talking about and what kinds? Just the hill and frost that you had last time or more?"
"There seems to be an assortment of them in there right now," replies the ranger. "Some humanoids as well. Definitely a fire giant or two."
"Sounds like fun. When do we start?" asks Kelar with a grin.
"We can leave in the morning, if you like," says Jo-owrn. "It will be a difficult journey, in the dead of winter."
Raz frowns deeply at Jo-owrn's remarks and then sighs. "Well..I guess some sacrifices must be made...but I don't have to like it."
"Hey Farad doesn't sound too much like really evil guys but giants have been known to hang around the big bad guys."
Finally you pack it in for the night.