[D&D 2e] Eveningstar Campaign 30

My Character

Gairloch Ironheart - Svirfneblin Priest of Grumbar

Companions

Jemmabink - Gnome fighter
Nina - Human Paladin of Helm with her Dire Wolf mount
Vahael Corrolon - Human Cleric of Helm
Revoltac - Elf Ranger
Kaiden - Half Elf Mage

(Previous notes)

There was an immediate regrowth of vegetation around the town of Eveningstar after the cleansing of the temple to Eldath. Flora was restored at a miraculous rate, signaling the personal favor of the goddess.

When Gairloch next rejoined the party, they were all prepared to head north: the direction Old Meg had indicated the giants originated. During the walk, it was noted that something was spying on the party from the surrounding forest, but nobody, including the elf ranger, was able to identify the spies. 

The party came upon walls to a keep which was nestled into the side of a mountain. They expected to find giants inside the walls, so spells were prepped, arrows were nocked, and swords were drawn.

The ranger lead the party, checking out the walls prior to everyone else's advancement. She actually found two sets of parallel walls with a gap in between. There was no further time for scouting, as boulders rained on the party from the woods behind. 

The party filed in between the parallel walls, while the fighter and the paladin held the breech where a gate should have stood. The cleric summoned a Wall of Fog around the upper bodies and heads of the attacking giants, obscuring their vision.  Gairloch sang a gravelly Recitation, followed by a Prayer to bolster the defenders. The party planned a vicious raid of the giants' lower extremities, when the mage called out warning from behind.

The second wall also had a gaping gateway leading into the keep, and three more giants were attacking from inside. Gairloch and the cleric defended the rear breech while the mage summoned a Wall of Fire. The heat of the fire kept the three giants at bay until they realized they could throw rocks from a distance.

By the time the rear giants resumed their missile attack, one of the front giants was down and the other was badly bloodied. Out of nowhere, the paladin's dire wolf leaped from above onto the head of the remaining giant along with a large, heretofore unseen bear! The two animals took down the giant, leaving the rest of the party to focus their attack on the giants from the bailey. 

The mage dispelled his fire wall so the fighters could charge the giants. Without the distraction of fog, and with Gairloch's bolstering prayers fading, the fighters did not have such an easy time inside the keep. The fighter and the paladin both ended up losing their footing and needed the clerics to run into melee to help them out. Gairloch cast a Cure Serious Wounds on Jemma to get her back into fighting shape. He then swung his maul at the giant she was fighting and destroyed the beast's lower leg, causing him to fall, unconscious. The remaining giants were killed with help from the ranger's arrows, the mage's spells, and the steel and grit of the rest of the party. The courtyard was quiet, save for the heavy breathing of the party. 

The large, brown bear (which the ranger later identified as a Kodiak) entered side by side with Nina's dire wolf. The bear walked to the ranger and laid itself down at her feet. 

A quick search of the courtyard found a fireplace with a spit, surrounded by bugbear and other humanoid bodies in various states of...having been eaten. There was nothing else alive in the keep.

For all intents and purposes, the keep now belongs to the party.