True bloodwights are among the deadliest of the undead banes, capable of achieving power to rival even the most potent liches. If they become trapped and unable to feed, however, their blood-drenched flesh dries to desiccated husks; their desperate and unquenched need for living energy driving them first to madness and then to near-brainlessness.

Shambling Gait. When adventurers first encounter a desiccated bloodwight, they’ll often drawn the wrong conclusion. The shambling gait and limited actions of a desiccated bloodwight are likely to leave them thinking that they’re facing common zombies.

Bloodsheen. The first indication that something is wrong will come when they start sweating blood and their skin becomes coated with a scarlet sheen. As the blood drips from them, it will pool on the floor and flow towards the desiccated corpses which grow in strength with every passing moment.

Transformation. When a desiccated bloodwight has drained enough energy from the living, it will transform into a lesser bloodwight. Its dry skin will crack open as the undead horror literally tears itself out of its own body. The thing which emerges is a glistening mass of raw muscle, pulsing with thick veins of crimson-black blood. Its fang-like teeth glitter as its mouth parts in a ghastly, hissing smile…

BLOODWIGHT, DESICCATED

Medium undead, neutral evil

---

Armor Class 8

Hit Points 22 (3d8+9)

Speed 20 ft.

---

STR 12 (+1), DEX 8 (-1), CON 16 (+3), INT 6 (-2), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 16 (+3)

---

Skills Stealth +1

Damage Resistances cold, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons

Damage Immunities poison

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Any

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Proficiency Bonus +2

---

Bloodsheen. A living creature within 30 feet of a desiccated bloodwight must succeed at a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or begin sweating blood (covering their skin in a sheen of blood). Characters affected by bloodsheen suffer 1d4 points of damage, plus 1 point of damage for each bloodwight within 30 feet. A character is only affected by bloodsheen once per round, regardless of how many bloodwights are present.

Health Soak. A desiccated bloodwight within 30 feet of a living creature gains 2 hit points per round. A desiccated bloodwight benefiting from health soak will gain hit points even after their normal maximum number of hit points has been reached, up to a maximum of 33 (the maximum number of hit points possible per Hit Die). If a desiccated bloodwight reaches the maximum number of hit points possible per Hit Die, they benefit from a restorative transformation (see below). If a desiccated bloodwight with more than their normal maximum number of hit points is no longer within 30 feet of a living creature, they will lose 1 hit point per minute until they return to their normal maximum number of hit points.

Restorative Transformation. A desiccated bloodwight who reaches the maximum number of hit points per Hit Die as a result of their health soak ability is transformed into a lesser bloodwight as a bonus action. From that point forward, the desiccated bloodwight is treated as a lesser bloodwight in all respects.

---

ACTIONS

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage.

---

Design Note: Bloodwights originally appeared in my 3E adventure The Complex of Zombies, which reinvented the typical cannon fodder zombie of fantasy roleplaying as a terrifying monster of horror commensurate with its cultural cachet. You can read some behind the scenes commentary here.

In 5^th Edition, you can take either a short rest or long rest to recover from your adventures.

When taking a short rest a character can:

• Regain and use abilities that indicate they require a short rest (e.g., a warlock’s spell slots).
• Spend Hit Dice, one at a time, to regain hit points (up to their maximum Hit Dice, which is equal to the character’s level).

When taking a long rest a character with at least 1 hit point can:

• Regain and use abilities that indicate they require a long rest.
• Regain all lost hit points.
• Regain a number of spent Hit Dice equal to half the character’s total number of Hit Dice (minimum 1).
• Reduce their exhaustion level by 1, if they have also ingested food and drink.

Spending Hit Dice. When spending a Hit Die, roll the Hie Die plus the character’s Constitution modifier and restore that number of lost hit points. (This cannot increase the character’s hit points above their maximum hit point value.)

REQUIRED REST TIME

Setting the amount of time required for short rests and long rests will have a significant impact on the tone and balance of your campaign. Use this interval scale to set required rest times:

• 5 minutes / 1 dungeon turn
• 1 hour
• 8 hours
• 1 week
• 1 month

Usually a long rest will be one interval higher on the list than a short rest (e.g., if short rests require 8 hours, then a long rest will require 1 week). You can, of course, increase this gap (e.g., short rests requiring only 5 minutes, but long rests requiring a week). Note, however, that classes rely on different balances between short rests and long rests for using and regaining their abilities. The more divergent the period between short rests and long rests, the more you will tilt the balance to favor one set of classes.

Interrupted Rest: In order to rest, characters can only engage in light activity (eating, drinking, reading, tending wounds, standing watch). If characters engage in strenuous activity (which can include fighting, casting spells, walking for a significant distance, or similar adventuring activity), the required rest period is extended by twice the next lowest interval (or double the rest period if at the lowest rest interval).

(For example, if a rest requires 8 hours and a character casts spells during the rest, their required resting period will increase by 2 hours to a total of 10 hours.)

At the GM’s discretion, each distinct disruption to the rest may additionally extend the required resting period. (For example, if you get into a fight during a rest, it will extend the rest. If you get into another fight later in the rest, the resting period may be extended again.)

Design Note: The standard rules for restarting a disrupted rest are replaced here with rules for extending the rest.

Option – Limited Long Rests. The GM may limit the number of long rests a character can take in a given period. (For example, if long rests require 8 hours, the GM may limit characters to taking only one long rest per day. If a long rest takes 1 week, the GM might only allow long rests every other week.)

Option – Narrative Rest Time. Instead of associating rests with a specific amount of time in the game world, you can instead pace your rests based on the narrative structure of play.

For narrative long rests, it’s recommended that characters benefit from a long rest either at the end of a scenario (for episodic campaigns) or at the completion of a major goal (for multi-threaded campaigns).

For narrative short rests, give the players X number of short rests that they can use during the scenario at any time of their choosing. The number of rests will depend on the length of the scenario. As a rule of thumb, grant one short rest for every 5 encounters in the scenario.

Alternatively, allow the players to take a certain number of short rests per session. (As a rule of thumb, allow one narrative short rest for every two hours of play. This is particularly useful for multi-threaded campaigns where the PCs may be engaging with multiple scenarios simultaneously.)

You may or may not want to require the whole group to take their narrative short rests at the same time.

POOR REST

If a character is resting in poor conditions (too noisy, too cold, a slightly caustic atmosphere, random interruptions, a newborn baby in the house, etc.):

• Double the amount of time required to achieve a short rest.
• When taking long rests, the character must take two long rests (instead of one) to gain the normal benefits of the long rest.

Design Note: The distinction here becomes meaningful when you’re limiting the number of long rests characters can take – e.g., you need to rest 8 hours one night and then 8 hours the next to get a long rest; you can’t just rest for 16 hours straight. It also becomes significant if rests are being interrupted.

LACK OF SLEEP

If you get less than eight hours of sleep in a night, you must succeed at a Constitution saving throw (DC 20 – twice the number of hours you slept) or gain a level of exhaustion. (If this aligns with a long rest, the level of exhaustion is applied after the effects of a long rest.)

Elven Trance. Elves only require four hours of meditation in a night. If they get less than four hours of meditation, they must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 20 – four times the number of hours they meditated) or gain a level of exhaustion.

Jet Lag. If a character rapidly shifts to a different time zone (or the equivalent thereof) due to teleportation, dimensional travel, flying carpet, or jumbo jet, they must make a Constitution saving throw for sleep deprivation even if they get 8 hours of sleep. Once a character succeeds at two consecutive sleep deprivation saving throws, their circadian rhythm has acclimated to the new time zone and they are no longer affected by the jet lag.

If the time zone shifts more than 4 hours or if the destination has a day/night cycle of a different length (or no day/night cycle at all), then the saving throw is made at disadvantage.

Characters using magical or pharmacological aids — like a sleep spell — to force a rest period that’s properly synched with the local time zone gain advantage on the sleep deprivation saving throw due to jet lag.

Taking your shoes off and scrunching your toes into the carpet also grants a +2 bonus on sleep deprivation saving throws due to jet lag. This bonus rises to +4 if you happen to do it during a terrorist attack.

(If you’re the sort who doesn’t like dragons passing like an express train and bursting over Bywater, you might choose to refer to this as “dimensional wildering” or “teleport lag.”)

CIRCADIAN EFFECTOR

1^st-level enchantment (Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Warlock, Wizard)

Casting Time: 1
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 10 minutes or instantaneous

When cast on a character suffering from jet lag, circadian effector immediately removes the effects of jet lag. (It has no effect on other forms of exhaustion.)

If cast on a sleeping character, circadian effector immediately acclimates the character to their current time zone. If used in this way, the effect is instantaneous (which means it does not wear off and cannot be dispelled, although a character can be subjected to fresh jet lag if they move to yet another time zone).

The spell can also be used to induce the effects of jet lag on a character not currently suffering from it for the duration of the spell (Constitution saving throw negates). Or, if cast on a sleeping character, the spell acclimates them to a time zone of the caster’s choice as an instantaneous effect (presumably causing them to suffer from jet lag in their current time zone).

OPTIONAL RULE: NATURAL HEALING

When using the natural healing optional rule, characters do not automatically recover all of their hit points at the end of a long rest. Instead, long rests, just like short rests, allow a character to expend Hit Dice (including the Hit Dice they just recovered).

OPTIONAL RULE: RESTING IN ARMOR

Resting in light armor counts as a single interruption to the rest period (extending the required rest period accordingly).

Resting in heavy armor is considered resting in poor conditions.

OPTIONAL RULE: LONG RESTS & DOWNTIME

Under this optional rule, downtime activities do not count as strenuous activity for the purposes of interrupting rest.

Alternatively, the GM might prep a specific list of allowed downtime activities. (Although it should be noted that many downtime activities are already allowed under the guidelines for interrupting rest. It’s only necessary to implement this rule if you are allowing downtime activities which might otherwise interrupt rest.)

Design Note: The goal of this rule is to encourage the use of downtime activities. If long rests require 1 week and more or less the only thing characters can do with that time are downtime activities, that will almost certainly guarantee a lot of downtime activities being used in your campaign.

Special thank to the Alexandrian Discord crew for their invaluable feedback on this article during its development.

Go to Table of Contents

As written, the key problem with the Eye of the All-Father revelation is that there’s no way for the PCs to discover it for themselves. Instead, they just kind of bumble around in Phase 3 until the giant Harshnag shows up, tells them what they “should” have been doing this whole time, and then joins the group as a vastly overpowered GMPC who pretends to be only semi-competent in combat so that he doesn’t make the PCs feel inferior. (That’s literally text, see p. 120.)

Here’s how you fix that:

1. The PCs learn what the Eye of the All-Father is.
2. They find out where it is.

These two steps can happen simultaneously, but if they’re separated, then the first step will make the PCs appreciate the significance of the second step when it happens.

The big change we’re going to make here is inverting Harshnag’s role in the campaign. Instead of showing up at the end of Phase 3 and telling the PCs where the railroad tracks are, we’ll trigger the encounter with Harshnag early in the campaign. (Perhaps he’s traveling in Zephyros’ Tower, p. 32.) And what he says is: “I’m trying to find the Eye of the All-Father, the true location of which has been lost for many generations of giants. (Insert a bunch of lore about the Eye of the All-Father here.) If you learn anything about it, please send word to me via Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep.” (Although this is not mentioned in Storm King’s Thunder, Harshnag is a member of Force Grey, an elite strike force commanded by the Blackstaff that enforces the laws that Waterdeep’s normal watch cannot.)

If the PCs now locate the Eye of the All-Father and decide to contact Harshnag, THEY’RE the essential players (pun intended). The more awesome Harshnag is, the more awesome they are for having helped him.

THE EYE OF THE ALL-FATHER EXISTS

• Harshnag’s Quest. The giant Harshnag (p. 118) is seeking the Eye of the All-Father and asks the PCs to send word to the Blackstaff in Waterdeep if they discover the lost location of the Eye.
• Frost-Touched Monolith (Triboar). In the courtyard of the Frost-Touched Frog, there is a stone sarsen that stands about nine feet high. Written in Dethek characters in a Giant (Jotun) language is the message, “Here are the lands of the Hill Giants. Decreed as Law by the Eye of the All-Father. Let no small folk enter here, or they shall find our stomachs are their final destination.” The stone was once one that marked the territory around Grudd Haug, but was removed a generation ago by treasure-seekers and brought to Triboar, where Alatha Riversword, the former proprietress of the Frost-Touched Frog, accepted it as payment for a bar debt on a lark.
• Dwarf’s Quest (Citadel Adbar/Citadel Felbarr). The kings and queens of these dwarven fortresses know the legends of the Eye of the All-Father and that it exists somewhere in the Spine of the World. They suggest that the PCs might want to seek it out.
• Gwent’s Advice (Ironmaster). If the PCs are following Augrek Brighthelm’s quest from Bryn Shander (p. 42) and meet with Gwent Brighthelm, he will suggest that they might seek out the Eye of the All-Father. (His information is rather vague: The dwarves know it was a site in the Spine of the World which was of importance to the giants in ages past, and “perhaps they are using it as a command center now.” He does not know the exact location.)
• Deadstone Cleft – Area 14: Temple. Add Where lies the Eye of the All-Father? To Kayalithica’s Questions, p. 153. (She has not received an answer.)
• Claugiyliamatar (Kryptgarden Forest), p. 96. If the PCs enter Kryptgarden Forest, the green dragon flies out of her lair and informs them the Eye of the All-Father can tell them “what must be done to end the giant menace.”

Note: Claugiyliamatar lies at the end of a short quest line which originates in Goldenfields (p. 52). Naxene Drathkala sends the PCs to a dragon expert in Waterdeep, who then sends them to the Kryptgarden Forest to look for the green dragon.

THE LOCATION OF THE EYE OF THE ALL-FATHER

• Questioning Cartographers (Waterdeep). Count Nimbolo and Countess Mulara, the cloud giant cartographers who visit Waterdeep while the PCs are there (p. 113), have tentatively identified the location of the Eye of the All-Father. They have not yet gone there, but it’s on their list of places to visit (and confirm if their hypothesis is correct).
• Svardborg – Area 4D: Narthex. The ceiling of this building is decorated with a faded mural depicting the peaks of the Spine of the World. (Artistically it makes it look as if the narthex were the root from which these mountains had grown.) Anyone inspecting the mural will note that the peaks have been individually labeled with their names, some of them archaic and/or peculiar to giant nomenclature. One of them is “the Eye of the All-Father,” and indicates the location of the temple.
• Questioning Hekaton. Hekaton knows the location of the Eye of the World, a secret that was passed down to him from his forefathers. (He never had a chance to pass that knowledge onto his daughters, although you might hide a scroll containing the knowledge somewhere within the King’s Tower in Maelstrom, p. 214.)
• Questioning Iymrith. Iymrith knows the location of the Eye of the World. This fact is alluded to in a letter Iymrith sent to Nym (see Finding Hekaton revelations, below). Iymrith might also reveal this information if he ends up allied with the PCs; or if he thinks that seeking the temple might distract them. (You could add the lore book from which he learned it to Iymrith’s Trove, p. 229.)
• Claugiyliamatar (Kryptgarden Forest), p. 96. If the PCs enter Kryptgarden Forest, the green dragon flies out of her lair and informs them the Eye of the All-Father can tell them “what must be done to end the giant menace.”

Note: The players might choose to take a more proactive approach to finding the Eye of the All-Father, rather than simply waiting to stumble across the information. For example, they might head to Candlekeep to do research, attempt castings of legend lore, ask the Blackstaff to consult the spirits of the former Blackstaffs to see if any of them knew the secret before it was lost, or any number of other possibilities. Generally speaking, if they put some effort into this, pay it off by either revealing the location or by pointing the PCs towards one of the clues above. (For example, they might discover that Iymrith stole a book of lore about the Eye of the All-Father from Candlekeep. Or learn that the information would have been encoded in the murals on the ceilings of Ostorian shrines.)

Go to Part 3D: Concept Revelations

Go to Table of Contents

We took a look at the Questioning/Backtracking Giants leads in this section of the campaign earlier. To that end, I’ve collapsed these leads into a single entry for each revelation (with an accompanying list of instances). There are such leads pointing to all five of the non-Maelstrom lairs.

To this we can also add the Eye of the All-Father, which similarly points to all of these lairs.

Structurally, I decided that each lair should also have a lead pointing to it from one of the other giant lairs. This means that once the PCs “punch up” into this layer of the campaign, it will be possible for them to circulate between the giant lairs. (These leads also, by their nature, begin to reveal the factional rivalries and politics between the giants.)

This gives us three clues for each lair, but they’re both formulaic and also very internal to the giants (they’re either the giants themselves, their lairs, or their oracle). So I finished fleshing out these revelation lists by adding one “outside” option to each list. (These are also the clues that the PCs will encounter while moving through the pointcrawl-like structure of Phase 3.)

Maelstrom is an exception to all this: It gets one clue pointing to it from each giant lair plus the prebuilt route through the Eye of the All-Father.

If you wanted to add an extra option to these revelation lists, you might consider putting a map of all known giant lairs somewhere in the Maelstrom. This makes sense (the Storm Giants were ruling over all of these places until just recently and/or Serissa would be doing her best to keep tabs on everyone) and creates the opportunity for a structure where the PCs punch up through the giant lairs, reach Maelstrom, and can then see the whole strategic picture of the giant situation. (Either as a result of the map or by forming an alliance with Serissa.)

I usually try to avoid this kind of “all the clues in one basket” approach because it can obviously short circuit the entire investigation. (All the answers the PCs want, after all, are conveniently right here for them.) Given the overall structure here, though, it’s probably fine. And you could also temper things by making the current locations of, say, Lyn Armaal and Kayalithica a mystery to Serissa.

GRUDD HAUG – DEN OF THE HILL GIANTS

• Frost-Touched Monolith (Triboar). In the courtyard of the Frost-Touched Frog, there is a stone sarsen that stands about nine feet high. Written in Dethek characters in a Giant (Jotun) language is the message, “Here are the lands of the Hill Giants. Decreed as Law by the Eye of the All-Father. Let no small folk enter here, or they shall find our stomachs are their final destination.” The stone was once one that marked the territory around Grudd Haug, but was removed a generation ago by treasure-seekers and brought to Triboar, where Alatha Riversword, the former proprietress of the Frost-Touched Frog, accepted it as payment for a bar debt on a lark. (Either documents can be found in the abandoned tavern testifying to where the monolith was originally found. Or they may need to track down the tavern’s current owner, Artus Riversword (see the Helm’s Hold lead to Triboar, described above).
• High Forest Poachers. PCs who are crossing the High Forest may stumble across the slaughtered remains of megafauna (huge deer, etc.) who have been slain by hill giants and then taken back to Grudd Haug. (It’s possible that the PCs might encounter hunters from Noanar’s Hold, p. 101, inspecting the kill site.)
• Deadstone Cleft – Area 14: Temple. Kayalithica has reports from scouts she sent to observe Grudd Haug. In addition to providing details of its location and a rough map of its exterior, the scouts also disdainfully report on Chief Guh’s disgusting effort to become “the largest giant” by literally eating her way to the distinction. They dismiss her rovers as being a threat to the stone giants; if anything, Guh has greatly weakened her strategic position by sending giant raiders to scour the surrounding countryside.
• Lyn Armaal – Area 14: Castellan’s Quarters. Cressaro has spy reports and maps identifying the location of Grudd Haug. These include an aerial map of the lodge. The reports of his spies describe with disdsain Chief Guh’s plan to eat her way to supremacy; they do express some concern that if her raiders get closer to the Evermoors they could rile up the people of Yartar or the elves of the High Forest and necessitate Lyn Armaal moving to a new location.
• Questioning/Backtracking Giants. Random Encounter (p. 70 & 71), Goldenfields (p. 51), Uluvin (p. 112), Old Tower (p. 116-7).
• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle gives them directions.

DEADSTONE CLEFT – CANYON OF THE STONE GIANTS

• Uthgardt Blessings (Stone Stand). Members of the Blue Bear tribe, which has recently formed an alliance with Kayalithica of Deadstone Cleft, seek blessings from the Grandfather Oak at Stone Stand for their efforts. They do so by describing their endeavor on the tanned hide of a bear, which is then tied with blue gut-string in ceremonial knots and left within the clefts between the old oak’s roots. One of these was left by Kriga Moonmusk (p. 66) seeking blessing for her alliance with Kayalithica. The document includes a reference to Deadstone Cleft as Kayalithica’s fortress. (The PCs should be able to make inquiries to identify the location of Deadstone Cleft.)
• Silixia (Grayvale), p. 88. This young brass dragon will point the PCs towards Deadstone Cleft.
• Grudd Haug – Area 13: Prisoner. Gryhawk, the Uthgardt prisoner here, is from the Blue Bear tribe (instead of the Elk tribe). He was a spy sent by Kayalithica, but was captured by the giants. If freed, he will thank the PCs (as described on p. 144) and tell them that he is certain they will also have the thanks of the greater giants that he serves when he returns to Deadstone Cleft.
• Svardborg – Area 1G: Throne Room. Jarl Storvald has correspondence from Kayalithica, in which she proposes an alliance between them — one in which her giants will “tear apart all that the little ones have built, restoring Ostoria to its glory” under her rule, while Storvald’s reavers will “rule the seas.” Her letter notes that she has traveled to consult the oracles of Deadstone Cleft in the Graypeak Mountains, and it has suggested that the All-Father and fortune alike would smile on such an alliance.
• Questioning/Backtracking Giants. Grayvale Run (p. 88), Llorkh (p. 96), Orlbar (Zorkh, p. 103). The origins of the giants in Grayvale Run and Llorkh are not indicated in the text, but are from Deadstone Cleft.
• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle gives them directions.

SVARDBORG – BERG OF THE FROST GIANTS

• Cloud Giant Cartographers. Count Nimbolo and Countess Mulara, the cloud giant cartographers who visit Waterdeep while the PCs are there (p. 113), were planning an expedition to Svardborg after investigating the giant settlement they believe Waterdeep was built atop of. Their maps include the approximate location of Svardborg in the Sea of Moving Ice, and notations indicate that it has been “recently reoccupied by frost giants.” If groups approach them in a more friendly way, they may mention this in conversation; they will certainly be eager to show off their new maps (allowing characters to notice the notation).
• Deadstone Cleft – Area 14: Temple. Kayalithica has correspondence from Jarl Storvald, apparently replying to some earlier letter Kayalithica sent to him proposing an alliance. The jarl is tentatively interested in “a world where you rule all the lands of lost Ostoria and my people rule all the oceans from the Sea of Moving Ice” as joint rulers of a new era, but stops short of actually promising anything. (Add Will the giants of Svardborg ally with us? to Kayalithica’s Questions, p. 153.)
• Questioning/Backtracking Giants. Bryn Shander (p. 41-2), Fireshear (p. 83), Helm’s Hold (p. 90), Luskan (p. 97), Port Llast (p. 104). Backtracking frost giants will generally lead you to their reaver ships. I recommend having navigational charts on the ships indicating the location of Svardborg.
• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle gives them directions.

IRONSLAG – FORGE OF THE FIRE GIANTS

• King’s Request (Citadel Adbar), p. 78. King Harnoth asks the PCs to raid Ironslag.
• King and Queen’s Request (Citadel Felbarr), p. 79. King Morinn and Queen Tithmel ask the PCs to raid Ironslag.
• Lyn Armaal – Area 14: Castellan’s Quarters. Cressaro has spy reports and maps identifying the location of Ironslag. These include an aerial map of the Yakfolk Village (p. 174).
• Questioning/Backtracking Giants. Triboar (p. 60), Nesme (p. 100).
• Questioning Drow Raiders (Gauntlgrym), p. 85-86. Drow thieves from Ironslag can be caught in Gauntlgrym.
• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle gives them directions

Note: If the PCs are wandering around the Silver Marches trying to figure out where the fire giants are, don’t hesitate to have NPCs suggest they might go to Citadel Adbar or Citadel Felbarr for aid. (This could equally well apply to any other goals the PCs might be pursuing in the region. Or if they’re working with a faction, the faction might send them to the dwarven kings and queens to discuss a potential alliance against the giants.)

LYN ARMAAL – CASTLE OF THE CLOUD GIANTS

• Zymorven Hall. From their outlook over the Evermoors, the knights of Zymorven Hall (p. 62) have observed winged figures repeatedly flying out of the Evermoors and heading towards the northwest. Lord Harthos Zymorven is concerned that the village of Rivermoot (p. 106), which lies in that direction, may be at risk from these creatures and asks the PCs to investigate. (The winged figures are aarokocra from Lyn Armaal, who are purchasing supplies and food in Rivermoot.)
• Random Encounter, p. 69. The PCs see Lyn Armaal flying above them.
• Ironslag – Area 26: Ducal Quarters. Zalto has correspondence from Countess Sansuri, the Lady of Masks, suggesting/asserting that, with the Ordning broken and the dominion of the Storm Giants at an end, Zalto should swear fealty to her and they could rise together to the top of the new Ordning. (The suggestion has enraged Zalto.) There are also reports from Zalto’s spies, who report that Lyn Armaal seems to have taken up a semi-permanent station above the Evermoors while the cloud giants are searching for something. (Or possibly multiple things.)
• Questioning Cartographers. Count Nimbolo and Countess Mulara, the cloud giant cartographers who visit Waterdeep while the PCs are there (p. 113), have heard that Countess Sansuri is interested in obtaining more up-to-date maps of the lands controlled by the little people. Nimbolo and Mulara aren’t really interested in that, but Sansuri’s agents have requested that they visit Lyn Armaal above the Evermoors. (The agent did suggest that the Lady of Masks was searching for some sort of ancient giant artifact… which does intrigue the cartographers somewhat.)
• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle gives them directions.

MAELSTROM – HOLD OF THE STORM GIANTS

• Eye of the All-Father, p. 151. Oracle tells them that they need a conch of teleportation.
• Grudd Haug – Area 2: Feasting Hall. Chief Guh believes that once she’s placed atop the new Ordning that the All-Father will give the Maelstrom to the hill giants. (Why the hill giants would even want it is unclear; it really can’t be emphasized just how stupid Guh is.) She has scrawled a crude and mostly inaccurate map of Maelstrom on the wall next to her, indicating how she would redecorate.
• Deadstone Cleft – Area 14: Temple. Kayalithica is conspiring with Iymrith. (She does not know that Iymrith is a dragon.) Iymrith’s latest letter scolds Kayalithica, saying that she is “as impatient as the sisters. Serissa’s reign will end soon enough, but we must not move too quickly. Let her failures continue to mount and her support will continue to wither away. Then the legacy of Hekaton will be undone completely, and the storm lords will be lost in chaos while the fate of the new Ordning is decided.”
• Svardborg – Nilraun. The jarl has had Nilraun using experimental techniques to use the conch of teleportation to cast scrying and clairvoyance spells into Maelstrom. He has discovered that Iymrith is a blue dragon, but has not revealed that information to the jarl.
• Ironslag – Brimskarda. In her bodice, Brimskarda has a letter sent to her by Serissa. It appears that Serissa and Brimskarda were once drinking buddies when they were younger; apparently conspiring as friends during various diplomatic summits that their fathers attended. Serissa calls upon these old bonds, hoping that Brimskarda will intercede with Duke Zalto and convince him to honor the fire giants’ contracts for supplying the storm giants with weapons. “Use the conch,” she urges, “And come visit us at Maelstrom. It shall be like old times again.” Brimskarda has not shown the letter to Zalto.
• Lyn Armaal – Area 14: Castellan’s Quarters. Among Cressaro’s papers is a request from the Lady of Masks to a prepare a plan for using the conch of teleportation to infiltrate Maelstrom. (Cressaro has not yet had time to work on this.)

Go to Part 3C: The Eye of the All-Father

Go to Table of Contents

We’ll start revising the revelation lists for Storm King’s Thunder by looking at the leads that take us from Nightstone to the Three Cities (Bryn Shander, Goldenfields, and Triboar).

A significant change in these revelations is that I’m breaking up Morak’s Quests from Nightstone (p. 31). As written, all three of these quests take the form of, “Please tell so-and-so that their family member is dead.” If you’re using all three hooks (as I recommend), this is very repetitive. I wanted both more variety and, where possible, higher stakes. So we’ve done that and also changed up the scenario hooks so that they come from different people.

Whereas it’s relatively likely that the PCs will enter the regions around Goldenfields and Triboar coincidentally during their travels (if they don’t stumble into them directly), the trick with Bryn Shander is that there’s nothing to really draw the PCs up into the Frozenfar (where we could naturally seed local activity that would hook the PCs into Icewind Dale). To counteract this, I’ve included a hyper-flexible lead in the form of a Harper’s Message that can be dropped into any one of a dozen locations.

Note that the Blod Stone and Escorting Ghalvin Dragonmoor leads are both included for completeness, but both are likely to either happen after the giant attacks these revelations are designed to introduce or preclude them from happening (for reasons described earlier).

BRYN SHANDER

• Delfryndels’ Quest (Nightstone). The Delfryndels’ neighbor and friend Semile Southwell was killed by a giant’s boulder (p. 22). They’ve gathered a small bundle of Semile’s personal belongings and would dearly like to see them delivered to Semile’s brother, Markham Southwell, who lives in Bryn Shander. The PCs are wanderers… is there any chance they might be heading towards the Frozenfar? (If they see that the PCs have Semile’s gold ring, which was looted from her dead hand by a goblin, they’ll request that it, too, be given to Markham. Or express their regret that the ring is missing.)
• Missing Everlund Merchants (Everlund). A merchant named Chenu sent agents to Bryn Shander to arrange the purchase of knucklehead scrimshaw (which is incredibly popular with the mercantile and noble families in Everlund). They were supposed to have returned two months ago, but there’s been no sign of them. She’s looking to hire some people who can handle themselves to figure out what happened to them. (Inquiries reveal that they were killed in a yeti caravan attack. They had no identifying paperwork, but the PCs can identify them by their merchant’s sigil. Duvessa Shane (p. 38) has held the money they were carrying in care; if the PCs can satisfy her that they are the rightful agents, they can receive the money and perhaps even arrange for the scrimshaw that Chenu needs.)
• Frozenfar Caravan (Hundelstone). A caravan in Hundelstone lost its guards to a yeti attack. They’re ready to head back north into Icewind Dale, but they need new protectors. (You can find a usable caravan in Legacy of the Crystal Shard.)
• Harper’s Message. A Harper agent asks the PCs to deliver a message to Beldora, a Harper operating in Icewind Dale. In whatever location the message is coming from, a recent string of murders was traced to a local cult of Auril. Documents found with the cult indicated that they had received visions of an “Ice Maiden” appearing on the Reghed Glacier; an omen of Auril’s “ascension.” They’d like Beldora to look into it.
• Blod Stone (Berg of the Frost Giants), p. 156 & 165. This magical artifact points towards the nearest blood relative of Artus Cimber, which is currently Sirac of Suzail in Bryn Shander.

Note: Alternatively, if the PCs belong to a faction who might be hostile to the Harpers, you could have them sent on a mission to assassinate, expose, or blackmail Beldora.

GOLDENFIELDS

• Nightstone’s Need (Nightstone). Nightstone’s food stores have been destroyed or looted. They need a large shipment of food as soon as possible, and the best place to go for it is Goldenfields. Whoever ends up in charge of Nightstone when the dust settles will ask the PCs to make the journey and arrange things.
• Call for an Old Friend (Uluvin). If the PCs save Uluvin from the hill giants, the community will need help rebuilding. The grateful widow Zorandra Heller (p. 112) remembers a moon elf druid named Aerglas who lived in the town for awhile when she was a young girl. She believes he would be able to help them now, and gives the PCs a ring of protection with his sigil which was given to her mother as a gift by Aerglas. She knows that Aerglas now resides in Goldenfields.
• Dead Messenger. (Dessarin Valley) While passing through the Dessarin Valley, the PCs find the body of a dead messenger in the livery of House Thann of Waterdeep (Dragon Heist, p. 162). He’s carrying a message addressed to Zi Liang of Goldenfields informing her that her father has died. (Zi Liang’s Quest, p. 52, is now in immediate response to her father’s death.)
• Zhentarim Payroll (Bargewright Inn). Zhentarim-affiliated PCs will be asked to deliver a coffer to Shalvus Martholio in Goldenfields (p. 46). The coffer contains cash Shalvus will be using to make strategic bribes to officials in Goldenfields to further the Black Network’s goal of taking control of the community.
• Escorting Ghalvin Dragonmoor (Den of the Hill Giants), p. 144. Freed from the hill giants, Ghalvin asks the PCs to escort him back to Goldenfields.

Note: The Call for an Old Friend hook points the PCs to Lifferlas’ Quest in Goldenfields.

TRIBOAR

• Morak’s Quest (Nightstone), p. 31. Morak’s friend and neighbor, Darthag Ulgar, was eaten by giant rats. Darthag ran the Lionshield Coster trading post in Nightstone, and his ex-wife runs a similar trading post in Triboar. The trading post is a vital lifeline for Nightstone’s economy. Morak asks the PCs to travel to Triboar, deliver news of Darthag’s death, and try to make arrangements for the Lionshield Coster to send an agent to Nightstone.
• Deed to the Frog (Helm’s Hold). If the PCs accept the quest given to them in Helm’s Hold (p. 91) and encounter the raiding frost giant, they will discover that he has taken a prisoner named Artus Riversword. The frost giant knows that his lord is seeking Artus Cimber and when he heard Artus’ wife shout her husband’s name (just before the giant killed her), he concluded this must be the guy. Riversword is unrelated to Cimber, but he is the descendant of Alatha Riversword, who was once the proprietess of the Frost-Touched Frog in Triboar (p. 56). Artus and his wife were heading back to their farmstead from a local village market. Artus will ask the PCs to help him carry his wife’s body home for burial, and then give them the deed to the Frost-Touched Frog as thanks for saving his life.
• Armorial Order (Citadel Felbarr). King Morinn and Queen Tithmel once received splendid suits of ceremonial armor from Ghelryn Foehammer of Triboar (p. 57). They would now like to order an armorial crest of their coat of arms from the talented smith. Since the PCs are outsiders, would they consider carrying the royal request to him?

Note: The king and queen are already designed to give the PCs a lead pointing at the Forge of the Fire Giants (p. 79). I recommend sequencing these requests with Ghelryn Foehammer’s Quest (p. 62): The PCs are asked by the king and queen to deliver their message to Foehammer; Foehammer then asks them to let the king and queen know he will deliver the armorial crest and also writes them a letter of recommendation; on the strength of the letter of recommendation, the king and queen then send the PCs to investigate the fire giants.

Since Citadel Felbarr is somewhat out of the way, you might want to strengthen this by adding an extra lead or two pointing at Felbarr to begin with. However, this is probably not necessary: Because Triboar is a major crossroads, the leads here can afford to be a little more esoteric.

Go to Part 3B: The Giant Lairs