The Ravine
RoomDCC 72 · p.9
Open source p.9Area 2-3 – The Ravine
The snow-bound ledge ends atop a high ridge. Past the snow-laden windblown lip is a steep ravine. To your left, the ridge rises to form a rugged peak, capped with an enormous snowy cornice.
If the PCs are traveling with Mendax, he leads them down into the ravine, confident in his memory of the ice caves. If the PCs are traveling without the aid of the dwarf, locating the caves requires expert tracking and some small bit of luck. Huntsmen, elves, bounty hunters, and other expert trackers note faint indications of the caves on a DC 15 Intelligence check.
Snow has drifted over the ravine; PCs entering the ice caves are forced to tunnel through the snow. Unknown to Mendax, the ravine lies directly in the path of a potential avalanche. Disturbing the snow risks triggering a snow slide of epic proportions.
Roll , modified by Luck, for every character pushing through to the ice cave. On a roll of 1-5, the character triggers an avalanche. The PCs hear a low rumble building to a deafening roar. One round later, thousands of tons of snow funnels down the ravine, sweeping along boulders, trees and any characters unfortunate enough to be caught in the ravine.
PCs have two choices: leap clear of the ravine (Agility, DC 10) or into the ice caves (Agility, DC 15). Failing either check leaves the PC to be swept away by the wall of crashing snow.
PCs caught in the avalanche must attempt three DC 12 Fortitude saves. For every failed save the PC takes damage. Those that survive the avalanche are swept some 200 yards down the slope, where they can be pulled from packed snow; all others are never seen again.
The avalanche scours the snow from the ravine, revealing the narrow slit into the ice caves (area 3-7).
Citadel of the Horned King
Read or paraphrase the following as the PCs draw near the fortress of the Horned King:
The ice-ridden citadel stands atop a rugged ridge, cloaked by dark pines and laden with snow. Constructed of grim black stones and roofed with slate, the squat fortress seems born of the lonesome peaks, somber woods, and flat, gray sky.
As the PCs draw closer to the fastness, the absence of wildlife quickly becomes apparent. The snow is unmarked by animal tracks, and the air is silent and still. The sole evidence of life are the giant tracks leading in and out of the citadel, and a single crow, perched high atop a roof beam. The crow watches the PCs’ advance with a cocked head, caws twice, then flaps off into the woods.
Nearly all the rooms of the first floor are vaulted, rising to two stories in height. These pose no great difficulty to the giants, save having to duck beneath the tall, 10-foot doors. The exceptions are the secret doors and passageways; all are sized for tall humans. Giants forcing their way through the narrow corridors are reduced to one-third speed and suffer a penalty to AC and attacks.
Giants of the ThriceTenth Kingdom
The fell giants that inhabit the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom are grim beasts. They seem born of the nightmares of northern skalds and the dour, silent forests the giants call home. Towering like great, snowbound pines, the giants reign from dark, crude citadels and high alpine ice caves. They gird themselves in frozen hides, battered shields, and bits of chain and plate looted from the corpses of their foes. They prefer to use ranged weapons to soften their foes before closing for violent—and inevitably brief—melee combat.
Contrary to many of their kin, ice giants’ cunning matches their brutish nature. Though seldom truly intelligent, the giants are crafty, deadly opponents in battle, coordinating tactics with other giants and utilizing terrain to their best advantage.
Unique among giant-kin, ice giants have a third eye set squarely in their foreheads. Sages recount an apocryphal tale in which the first of the ice giant thanes stole an eye from a weaker brother, simultaneously creating the races of both ice giants and cyclops. The veracity of the tale will likely never be known, but it is true that both ice giants and cyclops regard one another with undying enmity, flying into a violent rage whenever the other is encountered.
Random Encounters
Encounters within the fortress of the Horned King are frequent. For every 10 minutes spent within the fastness, roll ; encounters occur on a roll of 10 or better. Battles lasting longer than 3 rounds risk drawing the notice of giants in adjacent chambers.
Note that no random encounters take place while the PCs are hidden within the secret corridors or in the dungeons beneath the citadel.
Fortress Encounter
1 Giantling: Init ; Atk spiked club melee (); AC 14; HD ; hp 18; MV 30’; Act ; SP immune to cold; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.
2 Giant Acolyte: Init ; Atk spells or mace melee (); AC 15; HD ; hp 20; MV 40’; Act ; SP spellcasting (spell check , first and second level cleric spells), immune to cold; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.
3 Giant Sentry: Init ; Atk morningstar melee () or spear ranged (); AC 15; HD ; hp 28; MV 40’; Act ; SP immune to cold, crit on 22+; SV Fort , Ref , Will ; AL C.
Finally, many of the citadel’s chambers remain unoccupied by the giants. If the PCs take sufficient pains to disguise their tracks, they can shelter in these chambers, hidden from the eyes of the ice giants. Well-hidden PCs roll for random encounters once every 6 hours.