Game summary for January 8, 2008; present characters included Chuck Ahammer (shield dwarf master thrower/rogue/thunderthrower), Eolas Windmaster (moon elf duskblade), Grim Firestorm (shield dwarf barbarian/battlerager/frenzied berserker/warmain), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/scout/vigilante), Lady Aridarye Phylund Brokengulf (human aristocrat/harbinger/ranger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/ring sage/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Syvarius Strongbow (moon elf archer-ranger/peerless archer), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor/pious templar).
After nursing their wounds and raising their dead, the Mercenaries again set out into Kongen-Thulnir, at approximately 8:30 in the evening, 11 hours into the siege. They pass through some shattered gates and find the palace of the giants in ruins; however, the large citadel on the outcropping still stands.
The party moves unto the bridge and begins their journey to the citadel. After about fifty feet or so, a massive arrow or spear slams into Aridarye, hurling her over the edge and two hundred feet down to the rocks below. Grim immediately used his flying armor to plunge into the darkness to rescue her, or retrieve her carcass. The rest of the team advanced and found themselves under a hail of arrows. The group tried to remain non-hostile and use diplomacy to reason with the giants. The giants halted their fire but warned the team to fall back. Then, Lyrin blocked the view of one giant with a wall of fire, and other party members advanced up the stairs of the citadel. Right as the giants resumed their attack, a massive blue dragon surprised everyone by breathing electricity across the Mercenaries on the bridge.
A new battle was joined, with giants on one side and a dragon on the other. Chuck, Syvarius, Lyrin, and Morak worked over the fire giants. Taravin quaffed a potion of fly and went after the dragon, while Eolas dropped dispel magic repeatedly to get rid of the greater invisibility the dragon had warded itself with. Iapetus bravely attacked the invisible dragon but with little effect. Grim returned with Aridarye and flew out near the dragon. Eolas succeeded in making the dragon visible, which causes Aridarye and Iapetus to panic and run away. The dragon breathed again, and Grim died from the trauma of the electricity shooting through his system.
Two giants fell to half the party, while the rest threw everything they had at the dragon. Taravin pressed his advantage with some tactical aerial maneuvers that prevented the dragon from executing its desired attacks. Instead, it had to improvise and try to shred the flying paladin. Things seemed to be going well for the party. Then, Eolas landed a devastating polar ray, which froze the heart of the dragon, and its dead corpse plunged into the ground. The party quickly stripped the corpses of valuables and stand ready to enter the citadel. Will a handful of defenders await within, or the bulk of the giant forces?
