Luskan, they leave the balloon store and are headed north towards Icewindale. They know that on every third night there is a light appearing. It is not very windy, they learn from a sailor that there are storms coming later.
There are high cliffs that rise from the town at sea level It’s about 300m tall, like the cliffs of Dover. There is a river, Mirar, that runs through the city that leads to Mirrabar. There are simple suspension bridges that have been rolled out, almost like they were retracted as the chaos hit. There are little walkways that connect the place. There are four large islands and a lot of things to see. The most important, obvious thing is the host tower of the arcane – an enormous black charred tree trunk with a hand on top of it.
It’s associated with the Brotherhood of the Arcane. There is a giant water tower and an immense keep. It is clearly run by the Mirrabar watch. Nearby is a rough and dangerous area with a mess of little laneways.
Luskan is an incredibly romantic location and a place where many stories and songs come from, but in person it’s miserable and rough. The place is held together by the balance of factions known as the Ships. There are five of them and the relationship between them is constantly shifting. They go northwest to the docks, there are plenty of smaller vessels for short distances and larger ships. Londer notices a salty seadog down the end of the pier with a small vessel.
Londer approaches and asks if they can hire the boat. The seadog chatters at them and they can’t get a word in. He agrees to take them over to climb the cliffs but looks at them like they may not be right in the head. He lets the sail up and they begin making their way north. Within about 40 minutes they arrive at the cliff. The sun is setting, it’s still. The base of the cliff is rough, they are still a little way away. They begin climbing, it’s beginning to get dark. Some of them are beginning to wonder why they did this. Lia is very happy, walking up the cliff. As Thoradin climbs up and begins to feel the invigorating sense of the climb, he hears the unmistakeable sound of rock crumbling on the side.
He sees Miss Moss clamber, looking for something to hold onto. Miss Moss falls down much further and lands inelegantly on some rocks, about 50 meters below everyone else. She is bloody and bruised. “Curse my short arms!” cries Thoradin. Gunther climbs down expertly to the outcrop where Miss Moss has crumbled in a heap and hoists her onto his back like a backpack.
He says “Come with me” and then nothing happens. After a little while, he seems to have hurt his back. Londer anchors his piton to a rock, and ties his rope to it. He dangles the other end of rope down to them. Miss Moss grabs it and loops it around her waist, handing some to Gunther as well. Miss Moss climbs up again using all her rock climbing equipment. High above, Londer calls for them to come up. It becomes pitch black. Miss Moss puts on her nightvision goggles.
Londer sits in the dark and waits for them. Londer has some great fear. Leshanna opens a dimension door and takes herself and Londer to to the top of the hill. They feel the unmistakable on shore wind. Londer casts bless on his friends. Lia has been climbing the whole time and arrives at the top, has not looked back once. Gunther starts to sing a song because he also wants everyone to feel light. The song is about Thoradin and how he’s lifting everyone higher.
Miss Moss is a little embarrassed. Thoradin gives her a healing potion and some chocolate. They all hide, Thoradin sees some movement in the shadows. There are three huge figures dragging something big from the forest towards the edge of the cliff. To the north he can see them walking towards the edge of the cliff. Thoradin made his bird call to alert the others. Lia stays where she is. Leshanna moves over to where Thoradin is. As she arrives they see the light.
With the light they see what is happening in the distance. There are three frost giants. One is holding a magic flame, like a huge lantern. He is holding it up. Another is cranking a metal handle that turns a mechanism surrounding the light that spins and there is a small semi-circle that turns around, creating a flickering light, like a lighthouse. A third frost giant sits on a fallen tree trunk smoking a pipe. This one has a tricorn hat and a naval jacket.
Glinting in the light is an enormous scimitar. The one holding the lantern is wearing a bear skin vest and shorts, the one cranking the mechanism has a tattered jacket with tails and looks lanky.
Londer and Miss Moss also move over to look. Lia and Thoradin can see that the giants are having some discussions. The one sitting down chimes in from time to time. The lantern is definitely magic. They know the frost giants have a long naval history. They begin to sneak towards the giants, Lia doing a crabwalk towards the cliff to spiderwalk along the face towards them.
Leshanna sneaks towards them from the other side. She works out the timing of the lantern and pokes her head up. The lantern spins and she gets ready to cast, one sees her. Lia with her feet attached to the cliff, draws her longbow and fires at one of the giants and hides. The giant screams “What the f was that?”