Chapter 10: Breaking The Tide
The fabulous few spent their remaining days in Hogasun feasting and awaiting the giant attack. During that time, a small group of adventurers from Dragonwatch arrived to lend their aid to the war effort, having heard of the coming attack and the King's decision not to send support. Among them were 3 young men named Tommy, Arthur and Finn. Tommy had taken on the mantle of "Dox" since his death, having revered him as a child when the savage seven frequented their hideout in the barrows of Dragonwatch's slums. The three brothers, once part of the "Barrow Boys" gang, had grown up to become adventurers in the last 5 years. The group questioned them, and eventually convinced them to submit to Victavia's psychic interrogation. She found nothing of concern, and they were allowed to enter town and join the effort (though the changeling continued to mistrust them).
After presenting themselves to the Jarl, they were assigned to man the walls and told not to die by the Jarl (who did not want the death of such "green boys and city folk" on his conscience). Jolkottr helped the townsfolk with preparations for the Midsommar feast, but chose not to take part in the "willing" sacrifice of a virgin to the gods. Meanwhile, the changeling took on the apperance of a Northman and spoke with one of the adventurers from Dragonwatch (A blue dragonborn wizard), who hoped to survive the battle and return to the city with enough "glory" to join the war-wizard's school at the arcanatorium. He mentioned a scroll of teleportation he had stolen from the library in case he needed to flee. The feast took place on midsommar's eve before the battle. The next morning, the soldiers manned the walls and the fabulous few joined them defending a section of the wall facing north. By mid-day, the giants has encircled the town and the assault began in earnest. The group waited as ogres carrying mobile platforms carried groups of dark elves on their backs into battle. Jawhara and Kelthar joined the field of battle as the changeling and Jolkottr stayed on the wall and supported with magic.
The ogres and dark elves were dispatched with relative ease, and soon frost giants joined them. Their tactics remained, with the spellcasters supporting from the wall while the frontline fighters battled the giants. A cannon team managed to strike one of the giants, wounding him before he could join the fight. But the giants retaliated by launching boulders at the tower and toppling it, along with the cannon. The giants were joined by a dark elf spider creature known as a drider, and after dispatching the giants the group slew the monster and awaited the next wave. They were soon joined by a large frost giant wearing barnacles and shells and throwing a massive harpoon attached to a rope. He impaled Jolkottr and began reeling him closer, allowing his frost giant companion to approach him and nearly slay him with his greataxe. Despite this latest threat, the group managed to kill both the harpooner and the frost giant warrior, but the last cannon was destroyed in the effort. Their resources were thinning, and fatigue set in.
Just as they readied themselves for another fight, Birgir himself joined the fray alongside a dark elf priestess riding a white dragon. The changeling remained on the wall, raining down lightning bolts and mind-influencing magic while Jolkottr, his summoned fey companion, Jawhara and Kelthar fought on the field. They were joined by the dwarf Magni Greybeard, who brought news of the turning of the tide on the other fields of battle. This would be the final battle, and they would need to kill the frost giant king to end the war. Magni used his paladin's oath magic to prevent the advance of the dragon, while Jawhara and Kelthar joined the fey spirit in fighting Birgir. The dragon was not long delayed, however, and soon unleashed his icy breath upon them while the dark elf priestess used her magic to debilitate them. Jolkottr's healing magic kept Kelthar and Jawhara from death as they battled fiercely against the giant with support from the changeling on the wall. Finally, Jolkottr delivered what should have been the final blow after casting a spell of rot against him. Enraged, the giant slammed his axe into the ground and ripped a tear in the fabric of the universe. He escaped through the rift, returning to his fortress in the frostwastes. Though the dragon fought to remain, the dark elf commanded it to flee and they managed to escape the battle. The battle of Hogasun was won, but the war was not over.
Peering into the rift, Jawhara saw another much larger rift floating above the fortress in the frostwastes. Through this rift, a massive creature of ice and frost tried to emerge into the world. This was the rift to niflheimr from whence the frost giants had first emerged, and that had turned the frostwastes into an uninhabitable wasteland. The group returned within the walls of Hogasun, where they found the three barrow boys had survived the battle. When they returned to the longhall, they discovered a crowd gathered around it. Someone declared that Jarl Jorunson was dead--murdered inside his longhall. They found him stabbed to death near his throne, with an empty spell scroll nearby. The group deduced that it must've been the dragonborn wizard from Dragonwatch after learning that no one had seen him during the battle. The Jarl had never made it to the walls to orchestrate the battle because he was murdered as the battle began. The wizard had used his scroll of teleportation to escape after doing the deed.
The rift had to be dealt with, and so the group asked some of the northmen to guard it as they rested that night. The changeling asked the Scylding Skald about the creature inside the rift, and learned that it could be one of the firstborn children of the first giant Ymir, known as a the scion of frost. This colossal giant of elemental ice could wipe out humanity if unleashed in the world. In the morning, after gathering extra furs and warm clothing, they entered the portal to the frostwastes and found Birgir seated inside his fortress surrounded by ice wolves. The rift swirled like an icy maelstrom above them, with the scion of frost gazing out from beyond it. As battle ensued, Kelthar immediately unleashed a flurry of flaming fists against one of the ice wolves and decimated it. Jolkottr conjured his fey spirit as Jawhara joined the fray with her fiery axe and the changeling attempted to Banish Birgir to a pocket dimension so they could deal with the wolves and the rift. Having failed to banish Birgir, the giant fought back with his icy greataxe and magical shields of ice. The scion of frost flung massive boulders of ice from niflheimr, nearly killing Kelthar in one fell blow. Jawhara, calling upon the chaotic magic that fueled her rage, flung her fiery axe containing the essence of Surtr into the rift. The axe sealed the rift, trapping the scion in its icy realm for good. The axe magically returned to her, but her actions sent Birgir into a blind rage as he unleashed blow after blow against her. Jolkottr's healing magic kept her and Kelthar alive as they battled the giant after slaying his wolves, and the changeling used their magic to conceal Jawhara and Jolkottr so they could escape the giant's wrath. Finally, Kelthar landed the killing blow that ended the giant Birgir's reign of terror. With the rift sealed and Birgir slain, the north was once again safe from the wrath of the giants...
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