Day 31: We contemplated the runes guarding the ancient doors, while looking through them at the long-dead remains of the dwarves trapped by the Runemaster we had met in the distant past the previous week. Eventually, we were able to defeat the seals, and the door disappeared. We passed the skeletons as reverently as possible, taking care not to disrupt the remains of the unfortunate former slaves. Rocky did not quite manage to avoid all the skeletons, but aside from that we were successful. It took us a while to get the hang of moving through the complicated tunnel, and the fighters leading the group managed to trip all over each other at least once (again, Rocky showed that a rhino may not be the ideal choice for a familiar in tight quarters). After a shot while, the tunnel caved in behind us. Whether this was natural or a trap laid by the ancient Runelords I could not tell, but we decided to keep moving and get away before any more such situations occurred.
After a short time, we discovered a giant ant digging at the wall of the tunnel. Looking though the hole it had created, we discovered an ancient dwarven tomb, that had obviously been disturbed by the ants' activities. When Kendrak and Father Cain entered the tomb, they were greeted by the ghost of the dwarf entombed there. He revealed himself to be an ancestor of Kendrak, and oe who had distinguished himself back during the time of the Runelords. We quickly established that the reason he had been trapped here rather than released to his rightful reward was the desecration of his tob by the giant vermin we had just encountered. We were able to destroy the queen of the ant colony (druids can be very useful against such opponents), and then to repair Lord Runeshield's tomb. Father Cain performed the official burial service again, and the spirit gifted Kendrak with a hammer that had belonged to the family for generations. This hammer, the ghost said, would be particularly helpful against the giants we were soon to face. We left the tomab, resealing the cracks as best we could, after the spirit had left our plane properly.
We moved on in search of the library under the citadel, eventually finding a wall we had to break through to get into the citadel itself from the cave tunnels we had been hiking along. On the other side, we discovered a lone kobold, who refused to let us pass. We killed the evil creature in short order, though it managed a couple of solid hits on Rodor before it went down. We did try to negotiate with it first, but the foul thing would not agree to assist us.
We wondered through several rooms containing ogre or giant weapon and armor manufacturers, and killed as many of the workers as we found. Killing more or less unarmed workers may not be the most honorable part of our campaign, but the use to which their creations would ultimately be put made stopping the production an important objective. The giants seem set on creating large amounts of armament; the earlier base we destroyed had a substantial smithy too. This is not a positive development. We can only hope they haven't made too many yet, or stopping the army assembling somewhere here would be even harder.
After wondering through the smithies, we discovered a long tunnel lined with tapestries. As we moved down it, we were ambushed by trolls from behind the hanging cloths. For the first time, I was able to command actual devils to assist us in the fight; fortunately, I was able to convince them that by joining our efforts they were supporting their own cause, by defeating agents of rival infernal powers. This fight revealed to me that certain devils actually have a sense of humor, and also musical talent. Perhaps predictably, they put these skills to use irritating Father Cain, who did not appreciate the assistance the creatures offered us. I really need to explain to him again how allowing such completely expendable creatures to take the hits for us makes our life that much easier.
We then discovered that the tunnel led down to the library. We decided to take a moment to explore more of the citadel, and discovered a secret door that led to a particularly tough giant. We were eventually able to kill it, but it did considerable damage to our party, especially Father Cain. Evidently the inhabitants of this keep do not like him very much.