When I set my mind on creating a lasting legacy, I asked Diancastra to help me find a place where I could craft an item with the power I had in mind. She brought me to the Star Forge.
This chapter, intended for the Dungeon Master, presents giant enclaves—locations created by giants, controlled by them, or otherwise stemming from giants and their magic. Each section contains a map of the giant enclave, a description of the enclave's features and wondrous properties, and adventure ideas.
The chapter includes the following giant enclaves:
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Using Enclaves
Each of the locations in this chapter is a blank slate; you can decide who lives there, what they want, and how they interact with visitors. Each location includes a selection of adventure hooks that might attract characters to the enclave or give them a reason to draw on its magic. The adventure hooks also suggest specific creatures or encounter tables appearing in the "3" section in 3. And several of these hooks point to other enclaves, creating paths to string locations together into larger adventures.
When developing these enclaves into adventure sites, let your imagination run wild. Mix and match different encounter tables to see what can arise. Consider how randomly determining the attitude of the creatures generated can shift the tone of a story. If a hostile giant is the driving force behind an adventure seed, how does the adventure change if that giant is indifferent or even friendly to the characters?
Giant Enclave General Features
Locations built, repurposed, or furnished by giants have a grand scale. A giant's castle contains massive thrones, dining tables that could serve as the foundation for a human's home, and cutlery a human army could use as weapons. As a general rule, multiply each dimension of a space or object by three to estimate its giant-sized version, or by four if it's made by cloud or storm giants. Giant-sized locations have the following features:
Annam's Cradle
Giants from an ancient empire created an empowered form of the life rune that channeled Annam the All-Father's raw creative might. The giants sought to create their own world as he once did, and invoked the rune in an immense cavern deep underground, which they named Annam's Cradle. The result was a permanent rift in the fabric of reality leading to the Positive Plane—the source from which radiant energy flows throughout the multiverse to fuel light and life.
This rift, an incandescent slash in the cavern's "sky," is known as the Radiant Sun. It floods the vast cavern with light and unchecked life. Fed by this sun, the cavern is a sprawling tropical jungle ecosystem where massive creatures thrive.
Annam's Cradle Features
The Radiant Sun fluctuates in size and intensity to approximate a cycle of day and night. During the day, the rift sheds 2 that counts as sunlight, raising the temperature in the jungle to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. At night, the light fades to 2 and doesn't count as sunlight. The cavern's ceiling is a quarter of a mile high and has the appearance of a strangely rough-looking blue sky. The microclimate within the cavern features cloudy and rainy weather in addition to sunshine.
Map 4.1 depicts a region of Annam's Cradle with the following features:
Annam's Cradle Magic
The Radiant Sun imbues Annam's Cradle with the following properties:
Annam's Cradle Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Annam's Cradle or to give them missions to pursue within the cavern.
Dreams in Stone
A great pillar of rock reaching to the cavern's ceiling is the petrified body of a primordial giant. The figure's arm stretches up, breaching the cavern ceiling, and its fingers emerge on the surface above as 4 (in this chapter). The sleeping primordial's nightmares might take the form of creatures from the 3 or the 3 in 3, and they crawl down the petrified form to terrorize the inhabitants of the cavern below. Or they could climb to the surface at Dreamer's Reach, leading the characters into Annam's Cradle to find their source.
The nightmares might be a once-in-a-lifetime disaster, making the adventure a matter of waiting them out and defending against the creatures that terrorize the area. Alternatively, they might recur regularly, leading characters to seek a way to end the cycle by soothing the slumbering titan's nightmares, which might require climbing its mountainous form and carving the Giant rune for "friend" into its forehead.
Little Fluffy Lost
A distraught giant child lost their pet and begs for help retrieving it before it comes to harm. The child leads the characters into the jungle, where they find a menacing allosaurus. Before any hostilities erupt, the child delightedly shouts, "Fluffy!" The allosaurus wags its tail and rolls on its back for belly rubs. However, creatures from the 3 in 3 have been hunting the dinosaur and close in for the kill.
Stricken Crown
A cursed ruler's failing health can be cured only by water taken from the cavern's central waterfall. But hill giants of especially immense stature led by a hill giant avalancher (see 6) venerate and guzzle the waters. They violently defend the waterfall with beasts of war from the 3 or 3 in 3.
Ashen Grotto
The Ashen Grotto is a burial ground for giants. Since it was first established—in a long-ago age when a great empire of giants stretched across the world—giants of all kinds have brought their dead to be interred within this nexus of giants' magic.
Many giants hold strong beliefs and taboos about the grotto. Some might put aside a deadly enmity with their rivals to defend it against intruders. Others might refuse to enter for any reason other than during funerary rites to inter a family member's remains. Remains laid to rest within the grotto remain peaceful, and the power of the cave is anathema to Undead.
Ashen Grotto Features
The walls of this seaside cave of white limestone are reinforced with masonry and inscribed with verses extolling the ordning and reverence for one's ancestors. Most of the cave is above the sea's reach.
Map 4.2 depicts the Ashen Grotto's chambers and burial sites, including the following features:
Scattered among all these urns, caskets, and burial niches are the remains of other creatures who were loyal allies or loved ones of giants long gone, including creatures of the Giant type such as ettins and ogres, and even some Humanoids and other non-Giants.
Ashen Grotto Magic
The Ashen Grotto's magic reinforces the ordning specifically, and the natural, harmonious order of things in general. It can be used to break curses and ease afflictions, and to find insight into that which must be returned to its rightful course. The site is consecrated ground with the following properties:
Ashen Grotto Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Ashen Grotto or to give them missions to pursue within the cave.
Greedy Usurpers
Giants who wish to inter their dead in the Ashen Grotto ask the characters to help them remove a rival faction claiming it for themselves. The friendly giants respect the grotto's traditions and refuse to shed another giant's blood within, but the rivals no longer hold to tradition and seek to plunder the grotto's treasures and power. Use your choice of 3 in 3 for the rivals.
Key to the Past
A token in one of the most ancient burials is inscribed with the last surviving copy of a key rune. In the ages since its creation, the rune has become corrupted. It still functions, but it creates tears in the planar fabric. Creatures from the 3 (see 3) defend the rune. If this rune is inscribed in the 4, it opens a gateway to 4 (both in this chapter).
Missing Pieces
A storm giant asks the characters to retrieve an ancestor's bone from the Coral Pool, since she is forbidden to enter the grotto. She promises them a javelin of lightning if they retrieve the bone, which she intends to use to make a more powerful item. A behir agent of a rival storm giant and creatures from the 3 (see 3) try to steal the bone first.
Tide of Death
Fleeing from a horde comprising hundreds of zombies (as well as creatures from the 3 or 3 in 3), villagers took sanctuary in the grotto but are now trapped and running out of supplies. Adventurers must disperse the horde by killing the death giant shrouded one (see 6) who created it or clear a path for the villagers to escape.
Dreamer's Reach
Dreamer's Reach is steeped in dreams. Five stone monoliths stand atop a low mound of earth, reaching toward the sky. The monoliths are the fingers of a petrified, primordial being of earth and stone. This being strove to reach the surface—what it believed to be the world of dreams—and almost succeeded: its fingers reached into the air, but then the being fell into perpetual slumber. Now the echoes of its dreams whisper to any who sleep in the vicinity.
Stone giants were the first to discover the site and its magical properties, and they built shelters in and around the mound. Dreamer's Reach draws stone giant pilgrims who seek the place for its magic, but other creatures often use the shelters for their own purposes.
Dreamer's Reach Features
The mound around the stone fingers has been smoothed to a circular plateau. Giant-sized shelters are carved into the sides of the plateau, and several free-standing structures made of fitted stones surround the mound. Map 4.3 depicts Dreamer's Reach, including the following features:
Dreamer's Reach Magic
A creature who falls asleep or uses a feature such as an elf's Trance trait at Dreamer's Reach can call upon the magic of the place while sleeping, activating one of the following properties:
A creature who uses one of these properties can't use either one again for 24 hours. On waking, the creature must succeed on a DC 10 Charisma saving throw or have the charmed condition for 24 hours. A creature charmed in this way refuses to leave Dreamer's Reach and wants to use one of the site's properties the next time the creature sleeps. Each time a creature succeeds on or fails this saving throw, the save DC permanently increases by 1 for that creature.
Dreamer's Reach Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Dreamer's Reach or to give them missions to pursue there.
Dreaming Key
A cloud giant has taken control of Dreamer's Reach, searching for the answer to a riddle that leads to the 4 (in this chapter). The giant has hired and tricked creatures from the 3 (see 3) to defend the site.
Plague of Nightmares
Many people suffer repeating, terrible dreams every night. A coven of night hags uses dozens of people at Dreamer's Reach as channels to send the nightmares. The hags use creatures from the 3 (see 3) as bodyguards.
Royal Nightmare
A monarch is locked in nightmare-filled slumber that magic has failed to end. Characters must use Dreamer's Reach to enter the sleeper's nightmares and end them from within. Dream entities oppose the effort, taking the forms of creatures from the dreamer's life and from the 3 and 3 tables in 3.
Starry Beacon
A character who rests at Dreamer's Reach dreams of a brilliant star falling from the sky. Images of the dream persist upon waking and lead the character to a distinctive mountain. There, the character can use the 4 (in this chapter) to create a sentient magic item if they gather the proper materials and defeat creatures from the 3 (see 3) at the forge.
Wakeup Call
A missing patrol's trail leads to Dreamer's Reach. The primordial's dreams charmed the patrol to join a group of stone giants who seek omens from the dream world. The patrol refuses to leave, and the giants and creatures from the 3 (see 3) fight to keep the patrol here if necessary.
Endless Rockslide
A perpetual cascade of stone and earth, from pebbles to boulders, begins near the peak of a mountain and tumbles down the slope before disappearing into a crevice. This Endless Rockslide originates from the Elemental Plane of Earth, emerging from a planar portal near the mountain peak and plunging through a second portal deep in the crevice, ending in a different area of the Plane of Earth.
Giants of an ancient civilization sought to harvest the rockslide's magic and endless mineral resources. To aid their work, they carved walkways around the rockslide and built stone bridges spanning the fissure it pours into. The Giant runes these folk carved into the bridges still glimmer with crystalline light as they harness elemental earth magic.
Endless Rockslide Features
The Endless Rockslide plunges down the mountainside with tremendous force and thunderous sound. Creatures within 100 feet of the earth slide make ability checks that require hearing with disadvantage. A creature that starts its turn in the rockslide must make a DC 20 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature descends 200 feet and takes 33 (6d10) bludgeoning damage. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and can grab a stable handhold within reach to avoid descending. After descending 1,000 feet from the rockslide's origin, the creature passes through a permanent portal to the Plane of Earth. A creature with a burrow speed can use that speed to move in the slide, has advantage on the saving throw, and takes half damage on a failed save and no damage on a successful save. A creature with the Earth Glide trait automatically succeeds on the saving throw. The source of the slide is also a permanent portal to the Plane of Earth.
Map 4.4 shows the following features surrounding the Endless Rockslide:
Endless Rockslide Magic
The Endless Rockslide has the following properties:
Endless Rockslide Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Endless Rockslide or to give them missions to pursue there.
Constructive Endeavors
Runes harnessing the elemental power of the Endless Rockslide hold the key to a mage's research. The mage offers a manual of golems (clay) in exchange for help in overcoming guardians from the 3 (see 3).
Dangerous Beauty
Stone giant artisans find inspiration in the Endless Rockslide and create beautiful works from its material, but a fomorian warlock of the dark (see 6) curses the crafts to bring misfortune. The stone giants ask the characters to find the fomorian and end the curse before they're overwhelmed with creatures drawn from the 3 and 3 tables in 3.
Greatest Game
A frost giant loves to hunt dangerous creatures. She intends to divert the Endless Rockslide and use its force to break open a rock formation sealing off 4 (in this chapter). Opening the path frees beasts from the 3 (see 3), which then threaten a settlement of deep gnomes and duergar.
Hungry Earth
Hungry creatures from the 3 (see 3) swarm from the Endless Rockslide, driving out the fire giants working there. The giants offer a bounty of metal craft and gems in exchange for help retaking the site.
Forest Crystal
A great blue crystal juts from the moss of a forest glade and pulses with soft light. The plants of the surrounding wood grow to fantastic proportions. Regardless of local weather, the glade and its surrounding forest always thrive, offering shelter and bounty to the creatures who dwell there. But this verdant region hides a dark secret.
A forgotten empire of giants used a network of crystals, including the one at the forest's heart, to shape the land to their needs. The crystals tap into the magic of the Feywild, drawing the natural energy of that realm to overlay the material landscape around them. Though the forest is real for all practical purposes, it is a magical illusion concealing a region of sinister corruption.
Forest Crystal Features
Map 4.5 depicts the forest crystal and its surrounding glade, including the following features:
Forest Crystal Magic
The Forest Crystal extends a powerful magical shroud covering the surrounding region. The land surrounding the crystal within a radius of 5 miles is transformed into lush forest as if by the mirage arcane spell, except pieces of the forest brought outside this range don't vanish. The magic has the following additional properties:
Forest Crystal Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Forest Crystal or to give them missions to pursue there.
Lost Legacy
A young green dragon who lairs near the crystal approaches the characters and requests their aid. The minions of a rival dragon (creatures from the 3 in 3) seek to destroy the crystal. The rival, a young black dragon, wishes to reclaim the swamp hidden by the crystal's magic because the swamp belonged to the dragon's ancestor.
Reclamation
Creatures from the 3 (see 3) assault the crystal, causing kobolds who live in the treetop huts to seek assistance. A cloud giant destiny gambler (see 6) seeks to reconnect the crystal with others of its kind, including the remains of one that is now the 4 (in this chapter). If the cloud giant is successful, the reestablished network of crystals could allow the giant to reshape great portions of the world.
To Cure a Kingdom
A virulent plague ravages the countryside. The only cure is a specific mushroom, but all accounts speak of it growing in a swamp that doesn't exist. The characters must use the Forest Crystal to reveal the swamp hidden beneath the magical forest. Then they must battle creatures from the 3 (see 3) under the command of a mummy lord to claim the cure.
Urban Renewal
A circle of druids uses ancient magic to amplify the crystal's power, spreading its land-warping influence. The crystal's growing shroud threatens to engulf a nearby city whose ruler has been hostile to the druids in the past. Creatures from the 3 in 3 spontaneously arise in the city and wreak havoc as the settlement transforms.
Forsaken Deep
The coral-covered ruins of a storm giant retreat cling to the ocean floor at the edge of an undersea trench. Storm giants once used this place as a haven to contemplate omens, to refine experimental magic, and to commune with the ocean. Its peace shattered when death giants from the Shadowfell found a lightless river that led into the trench and killed the retreat's original inhabitants.
Portions of the retreat still hold foul air, but most areas have been flooded by the cold deep. The retreat's runic circle still channels elemental power from a portal to the Plane of Water deep in the trench, and crystalline archives hold lost knowledge of the giants who built them.
Forsaken Deep Features
Map 4.6 shows the ruins of the storm giant retreat and the trench, including the following features:
Forsaken Deep Magic
The Forsaken Deep has the following properties:
Forsaken Deep Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Forsaken Deep or to give them missions to pursue there.
Burial at Sea
Restless spirits of the storm giants who died in the Forsaken Deep create a perpetual necrotic storm on the ocean surface above. To stop it, the characters must brave creatures from the 3 and 3 tables (see 3), retrieve the giants' remains from the deep, and inter them in the 4 (in this chapter).
Distant Thunder
The lightning archives hold the key to gaining control of the apparatus contained in the 4 (in this chapter). A death giant reaper (see 6) claims the deep with minions from the 3 in 3, but the giant might trade this knowledge if the characters capture a marid thief and dispatch the marid's minions from the 3 (see 3).
Glory of the Storm
An empyrean daughter of Stronmaus seeks worthy heroes to lead into the Forsaken Deep. She hopes to earn a place at her father's side by proving herself in the depths against her wicked brother and his minions from the 3 and 3 tables (see 3), and she promises Stronmaus's blessing to those who help her.
Gale's Eye Tower
A tower built from a combination of stone and solidified clouds floats in the eye of a perpetual storm. The storm's intensity fluctuates, but it never dissipates completely. When it lacks a steady will to command it, the storm wanders the world.
Long ago, a cloud giant traveler built the tower as a wandering bastion against forces of chaos on the Material Plane. The traveler constructed it using a gift from the fabled Wind Dukes of Aaqa—beings of order from the Plane of Air who oppose the forces of chaos and Elemental Evil throughout the multiverse. This gift, the Labyrinth Funnel, is a conduit to the Plane of Air that fuels the tower's magic.
Gale's Eye Tower Features
Map 4.7 depicts Gale's Eye Tower, including the following features:
Gale's Eye Tower Magic
A creature within 5 feet of the Labyrinth Funnel can safely attune to it (remaining outside it) as if it were a magic item. While attuned to it and within the control chamber, the creature can control the tower's movement, control the surrounding storm, and summon creatures from the Plane of Air as follows:
Gale's Eye Tower Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Gale's Eye Tower or to give them missions to pursue there.
Glorious Aerie
A group of aarakocra controls the tower, flying it across the countryside and assaulting servants of the cults of Elemental Evil. They have recruited creatures from the 3 in 3 to aid their campaign. The aarakocra know a secret method to stabilize the Labyrinth Funnel so it can be used safely as a portal.
Ill Winds Blow
Frost giant raiders are subverting the Labyrinth Funnel to connect to the 4 (in this chapter). They manipulate the winds to bring the iceberg to the tower's location, but as a side effect, the perpetual storm grows more intense and ravages the surrounding countryside. Creatures from the 3 (see 3) defend the tower while the giants work.
Silver Storm
An adult silver dragon took control of the tower when it drifted into her territory, and she is using its power to drive other beings from her domain. Towns in the area desperately call for help as endless storms assail them and an onslaught of creatures from the 3 (see 3) terrorizes the region.
Touch of Chaos
An artifact cursed by the cosmic touch of chaos can be cleansed in the Labyrinth Funnel, thanks to the funnel's connection to Aaqa. But when the artifact is brought into the tower, it temporarily corrupts the Labyrinth Funnel. Demons from the 3 (see 3) appear in waves to thwart attempts to cleanse the artifact.
Grolantor's Larder
In ages past, giants found a secluded valley surrounded by low hills. Blessed by nature deities or perhaps abundant energy from the Elemental Planes, the vale teems with game animals and produces an inexhaustible supply of delicious fruits and grains. The giants named it Grolantor's Larder for the god who would most appreciate its copious bounty.
Cares and sorrow melt away here, and the harshest weather beyond the valley becomes mild within its boundaries. A babbling stream feeds a sizable pond where fish thrive. Game animals graze lazily, and birds flit between the trees and brush. Those who find their way here can rarely muster the will to leave.
Grolantor's Larder Features
Map 4.8 depicts Grolantor's Larder, including the following features:
Grolantor's Larder Magic
The essential magic of Grolantor's Larder is the abundant growth of food-bearing plants, providing ample food for all who visit. Foraging in the grove is a simple task that requires no ability checks. With some extra effort, visitors can gather a feast of gigantic proportions, but this magic has its risks:
Grolantor's Larder Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Grolantor's Larder or to give them missions to pursue there.
Ashes of War
A war-torn country's farmland was razed and burned. The farmers need seeds and plant cuttings from Grolantor's Larder to replant their fields, but monsters from the 3 or 3 (see 3) inhabit the grove and view intruders as food.
Discerning Taste
The hill giant leader occupying Grolantor's Larder wants a delicacy from 4 (in this chapter). He uncharacteristically offers to share wondrous food from the larder to anyone who manages to slay an aboleth living in flooded tunnels beneath the castle and return with its meat. Creatures from the 3 (see 3) stand in the adventurers' way.
Ravenous
Hill giant cultists led by a maw of Yeenoghu (see 6) raid settlements close to the grove, capturing townsfolk to be the main course in a massive feast ritual. Giants, gnolls and creatures from the 3 (see 3) stand between the captives and freedom.
Safe Haven
The characters travel with refugees fleeing from disaster. The survivors are exhausted and starving when they stumble upon the grove. The unicorn who watches the grove and her centaur subjects will shelter the refugees if the characters agree to slay a nearby pride of displacer beasts and creatures from the 3 (see 3).
Wayward Son
A noble seeks adventurers to find and return her son, who vanished while traveling. His route passed by Grolantor's Larder, where the missing man became entranced by the sumptuous feast. Satyrs and creatures from the 3 in 3 entice the characters to join the feast permanently.
Hiatea's Hearth
A stone feast hall of gigantic proportions radiates the warmth of hearth and home. The great flagstone floor, the massive throne, and the stone arch surrounding the cavernous fireplace are inscribed with runes extolling the god Hiatea and invoking her blessing upon all who shelter here.
Many dynasties of giants have claimed ownership of Hiatea's Hearth since its founding, and each one has known vast prosperity within its walls—followed by a spectacular fall. The magic of the hall invokes Hiatea's aspect as a tender of the hearth, but it also carries a curse laid by her brother Karontor. Whoever sits upon the throne brings fortune and glory to their people, but this prosperity is short-lived, lasting only until another supplants them.
Hiatea's Hearth Features
Map 4.9 depicts Hiatea's Hearth, including the following features:
Hiatea's Hearth Magic
Hiatea's Hearth carries Hiatea's blessing as well as the curse of Karontor, giving it the following properties:
Hiatea's Hearth Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Hiatea's Hearth or to give them missions to pursue there.
Dying Embers
An efreeti who claimed the throne has fought off several attempts to wrest Hiatea's Hearth away. In studying the hall's history, the efreeti realized the truth of the hall's curse. She is desperate to escape her fate and offers a handsome reward, including a suit of plate armor of resistance (fire), to anyone who helps her survive the impending assault of creatures from the 3 in 3.
Ghosts of the Past
Creatures from the 3 (see 3) have taken control of the hall but are plagued by restless spirits. The ghosts and wraiths of defeated foes, along with creatures from the 3 (see 3), refuse to rest in peace.
Head to Head to Head
Two rival factions of giant kin vie to claim the throne. An ettin and a fensir skirmisher (see 6) each entice the characters to side with them and their followers from the 3 (see 3) to break the stalemate, offering treasure and aid in the characters' endeavors.
Infernal Bargain
A bone devil knows the power of Hiatea's Hearth and is tempting a fire giant to claim the throne, but the giant's wife knows the throne's curse will mean her love's certain doom. She begs adventurers to help her thwart the devil's designs, because she can't take on the devil's minions (from the 3 in 3) alone.
Turn of the Dynasty
The stone giant thane who controls Hiatea's Hearth fears their dynasty ending and seeks an alliance with the giants at the 4 (in this chapter), but the giants there are plotting the thane's downfall. Choose any of the 3 in 3 to determine who controls the Endless Rockslide.
Horizon's Edge
Horizon's Edge is a demiplane refuge that drifts in the roiling fog of the Deep Ethereal plane, beyond a shimmering, golden ethereal curtain. The demiplane is a serene bubble of air dotted with floating platforms of stone supporting enormous structures.
An ancient empire of giants achieved magical and technological advances that outshine those of the present age: spanning worlds and planes, building cyclopean monuments and intricate art, and wielding magic of almost unimaginable power. As this mighty empire neared its collapse, its greatest mages created Horizon's Edge to preserve some of the glories of their civilization. The demiplane might still hold secrets lost to the rest of the multiverse, including tools and devices that fuse magical and technological techniques.
Horizon's Edge Features
Map 4.10 depicts Horizon's Edge, including the following features:
Horizon's Edge Magic
In contrast to the other locations described in this chapter, Horizon's Edge is notable more for the magic and technology it contains than for any magic inherent to the site itself. However, the magically created demiplane has one peculiar property:
Horizon's Edge Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Horizon's Edge or to give them missions to pursue there.
Key to the Past
Archaeologists hire the characters to help operate a Horizon puzzle cube (see the "4" sidebar) and protect them from any hazards in the demiplane. Creatures from the 3 in 3 are trapped in the realm and attack the expedition, seeking a means of escape.
Reforged in Starlight
Pieces of a broken magic item found in the demiplane and guarded by creatures from the 3 (see 3) still hold lingering traces of magic. Every attempt to repair the item fails. A platinum tablet refers to the 4 (in this chapter) as the place where the item was created and suggests the forge is the only place it can be repaired.
Scourge of Demons
A storm giant learned the ancient giants' empire collapsed due to demonic corruption, and she vowed to destroy every remnant of that corruption. She offers fantastic rewards to heroes who will venture to Horizon's Edge and rid it of creatures from the 3 in 3.
Howling Iceberg
The Howling Iceberg is a massive chunk of glacial ice, sapphire blue where the light refracts and gleaming white where it reflects. The iceberg is riddled with convoluted tunnels through which perpetual winds howl. It was created by frost giant cultists of the demon lord Kostchtchie around a sliver of ice from the Frostfell, the Plane of Ice that forms the border between the Elemental Planes of Air and Water. The iceberg never melts, and its perpetual winds blow from the planes, carrying the biting cold of the Frostfell and the torturous howls of Pandemonium.
Howling Iceberg Features
Map 4.11 shows the Howling Iceberg, which has the following features:
Howling Iceberg Magic
The tunnels in the Howling Iceberg twist deeper than should be possible. A creature exploring the tunnels can make a DC 20 Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check after each hour. A creature that succeeds on three checks in a row or that rolls a 20 on the d20 finds a special destination, as shown on the Howling Iceberg Tunnels table.
| d10 | Destination |
|---|---|
| 1–4 | A planar portal leading to the Frostfell |
| 5–8 | A planar portal leading to Pandemonium |
| 9–10 | The cavern where the Frostfell Shard rests |
A creature who finds the Frostfell Shard can attune to it as if it were a magic item. If the creature finishes a long rest more than 1 mile from the iceberg, the creature's attunement to the shard ends. The shard can't be moved. Attunement to the shard gives the following benefits:
The Frostfell Shard can be destroyed by dealing at least 75 fire damage to it in a single turn, whereupon it melts and the iceberg shatters.
Howling Iceberg Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Howling Iceberg or to give them missions to pursue there.
Frigid Depths
A horde of merrow and sahuagin use the iceberg to raid coastal settlements and shipping lanes, commanding creatures from the 3 and 3 tables in 3.
On Ice
A pair of remorhazes and creatures from the 3 leave the iceberg when it drifts ashore, hunting local animals and people. They drag many captives to the iceberg to store for future meals.
Winds of Chaos
A death slaad leading other slaadi emerges from the portal to Pandemonium. Along with creatures from the 3 (see 3), all driven wild by the winds, they maraud nearby settlements.
Karontor's Hold
Karontor's Hold is a small keep (by giant standards) that stands on a lonely rock bluff. The approach is disorienting: the keep seems closer—or sometimes farther—than it actually is. Creatures that sleep in the vicinity find their rest plagued by disturbing dreams and unintelligible whispers that hint at something simultaneously enticing and repulsive.
Beneath the keep is a well that once held a portal to the Feywild. Ancient fomorians built Karontor's Hold around the font to study and harness its power. They used this crossing to launch an ill-fated assault on the Feywild. When the offending fomorians were exiled to the Underdark, the well's magic was twisted into a connection to the alien Far Realm.
Karontor's Hold Features
Map 4.12 shows Karontor's Hold, including the following features:
Karontor's Hold Magic
The Far Realm intrusion flowing from the well in Karontor's Hold twists space and time in and around the keep to a range of 6 miles. The enclave has the following properties:
Karontor's Hold Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to Karontor's Hold or to give them missions to pursue there.
Amplified Intrusion
A fomorian deep crawler (see 6) lurking in the hold has designs on the 4 (in this chapter), seeking to corrupt it and use its magic to spread the Far Realm intrusion. While some of its minions—creatures from the 3 (see 3)—defend Karontor's Hold, others carry cursed objects into the forest to infuse their corruption into the crystal. If these minions are successful, the Forest Crystal becomes an extension of the Far Realm's intrusion.
Fallen Storm
A storm giant who sought to cleanse the Far Realm corruption from the keep has succumbed to the corruption and now gathers creatures from the 3 in 3 to unleash on surrounding settlements. The giant can be cleansed of Far Realm influence by the remove curse or greater restoration spell, but only if the spell is cast while the giant has the incapacitated condition and the caster succeeds on a DC 20 ability check using the caster's spellcasting ability.
Food for Thought
A colony of mind flayers flooded the well room with brine, and they are collecting brains to feed a nascent elder brain. They send dominated creatures from the 3 in 3 to fetch victims. An ally of the characters survives the assault and asks the characters for help.
Misty Vale
The Misty Vale is a remote mountain valley that exists simultaneously in many places across different worlds of the Material Plane. Aside from the perpetual fog that encloses it, the valley looks much like any other at first glance. A closer investigation reveals its anomalies: terrain features and structures in the valley that don't make sense, many of which change from one visit to the next.
Cloud giant sorcerers from an ancient empire of giants combined their might to turn a mountain into a vanishing fortress, but they weren't fully successful. The mountain vanished, as did everyone and everything on it, and in its place is the Misty Vale. The fabric of the Material Plane is tangled and torn where the mountain once stood, so the valley links multiple worlds together. Because of the unpredictable nature of this tangle in space, bizarre events surround the Misty Vale as creatures, objects, and entire settlements shift—in whole or in part—from one world to another, unmoored from their proper place in reality.
Misty Vale Features
Map 4.13 shows the Misty Vale, including the following features:
Misty Vale Magic
The Misty Vale has the following properties:
Misty Vale Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Misty Vale or to give them missions to pursue there.
Hospitality
A community of commoners living in the vale offers the characters hospitality, perhaps while the characters are traveling and lost in fog. If the characters spend the night in the village, they find the valley connected to a different place in the morning, and the villagers have transformed into murderous creatures from the 3 in 3.
Price of Passage
The guardian of the vale (appearing as an androsphinx) demands a golden apple from 4 (in this chapter) in exchange for safe passage to a destination of the characters' choice. At the larder, a hill giant avalancher (see 6) hoards three golden apples, which act as potions of heroism, and leads a band from the 3 in 3.
Unexpected Hunger
Hill giant raiders stumbled into answering the guardian's riddle by coincidentally having the answer in one of their bags—a live sheep—and they now raid targets through the valley's mists. Creatures from the 3 (see 3) appear in places they shouldn't, raid for food and treasure, and then vanish into the valley.
Runic Circle
The Runic Circle combines the functions of a giant's spellbook, an astronomical chart, and a beacon to travelers beyond the stars. The ancient giants who created the circle traveled to distant lands and other worlds. Those who stayed behind used the circle to maintain communication with explorers, helping them pilot their flying ships home.
Standing stones form a great circle inscribed into a flat stone hilltop. The stones bear Giant runes, carved constellations, and strange symbols. On the ground, an enormous circle of Giant runes of power links the monoliths and circumscribes smaller circles of runes. Carved lines throughout the circle link different strings of symbols.
Runic Circle Features
Map 4.14 depicts the Runic Circle, including the following features:
Runic Circle Magic
The Runic Circle has the following properties:
Runic Circle Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Runic Circle or to give them missions to pursue there.
Falling Feud
Two flying ships crash at the Runic Circle, appearing as a great fireball blazing through the night sky. Characters who investigate this celestial event find mind flayers skirmishing with githyanki warriors and a githyanki knight amid the wreckage of their vessels. Both sides are desperate and offer rewards to the characters for their help.
Far-Flung Invaders
Creatures from another world appear in the circle during a stellar conjunction, then attack the surrounding area. The invaders might be creatures from the 3 or 3 in 3, or they could be other creatures of your choice. Waves of invaders appear throughout the night, unless the characters can activate the proper sequences of runes and star carvings to sever the invaders' connection to the circle.
Missing Coordinates
Characters in search of a crucial secret at the circle find the sequence of star charts they need is damaged. The only place the charts still exist is in the 4 (in this chapter), in recorded storm giant prophecies. Mind flayers and their dominated minions from the 3 (see 3) race the characters to the prize.
Shipyard
A fire giant shipwright is studying the records in the circle with her apprentices and minions from the 3 (see 3), puzzling out the secret of creating the flying ships used by the civilization that built the circle. She demands tribute in the form of magical metal treasure to allow the characters to access the circle. She also accepts a fragment from the core of a supposedly inert runic colossus (see 6).
Singing Sands
A patch of glittering, powdered crystal melodically chimes as the desert wind blows it in small, rolling dunes. The Singing Sands shine like diamonds in the harsh desert sun, soaking up light and heat as their lonely song echoes through the wastes. At night the song goes quiet, and the sands rise into a solid memory of a simple, giant-created fort.
The Singing Sands were once a single object, a massive crystal created by a lost empire of giants (similar to the 4 in this chapter). The crystal's function is lost to time, but it was part of a network of such devices and was protected by a small fortress. The sand takes on the fortress' shape at night, crystallizing into the memory of its former home.
Oh, I could sing you such tales of the Singing Crystal, before it crumbled to sand. But you would weep forever.
Singing Sands Features
During the day, the Singing Sands consist of two small dunes of gleaming, crystalline sand. The wind blows the sand across the desert at 1 mile per hour (10 feet per round). It reflects the sun and shines brightly, imposing disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight within 50 feet of them. As the sand moves, its melodious chimes are audible to 1 mile away. When a creature moves through the sand, the chiming becomes a discordant shriek.
Map 4.15 depicts the Singing Sands at night, when the sand forms a glowing, warm shelter. The construction matches a giant's proportions, but the architectural style is familiar only from ancient ruins. The temperature inside the fortress is always comfortable.
Singing Sands Magic
The Singing Sands don't just make music; creatures can use music to shape the sand to their will. As an action, a creature can sing or play music to magically shape the Singing Sands into physical objects as it desires. If the creature succeeds on a DC 10 Charisma (Performance) check, the creature can form up to a 5-foot cube of the sand into any shape. The resulting object is made of sparkling, crystalline sand and lasts for 1 hour. For every 5 by which the creature exceeds the DC, the creature can either shape an additional 5-foot cube or increase the duration by 1 hour. Alternatively, the creature can create a permanent crystal version of a simple or martial melee weapon with the light property, or a crystal version of an object worth up to 10 gp from the 5 in the Player's Handbook. Once a creature shapes a permanent object from the sand, the creature can't do so again until it finishes 1d4 long rests.
Singing Sands Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Singing Sands or to give them missions to pursue there.
Desert Dreams
Goliath giant-kin escort a nervous stone giant rockspeaker (both in 6) who needs to commune with his dreams within the crystal sand fortress at night. While he does, creatures from the 3 and 3 tables in 3 manifest from the sand and attack.
Lingering Ties
A flock of giant vultures follows the Singing Sands through the day, circling over creatures who investigate it. After dark, creatures from the 3 (see 3) burst from the sand and attack anyone in the fortress. The vultures pick off stragglers and feast on the fallen. The creatures that emerge from the sand come from a lost city that holds an intact crystal like the one the Singing Sands once was, and the magical connection between the crystals endures.
Living Sands
Settlements along a fertile river in the desert are attacked by purple worms made of crystalline sand. Tales told by the locals lead to the Singing Sands, where hostile creatures from the 3 (see 3) appear, but the creatures are made of sand.
Searching for the Key
A lost group of hill giants spotted the Singing Sands and followed them into the desert. The giants know they can sing to make the sand do what they want, but none of them can carry a tune, so they're frustrated and ready to smash intruders to pieces.
Wanderer's Hope
A cloud giant in an airship seeks the Singing Sands, claiming the desert was once the seat of a powerful empire of giants. The giant wants the characters to distract creatures from the 3 (see 3) defending the sand. The giant hopes to use the sand to create a compass to locate 4 (in this chapter).
Star Forge
The Star Forge blazes on a small obsidian island in a lake formed in the crater where a star fell to earth. The Forge's incandescent iron furnace spills light across the dark glass and still water, casting long shadows toward the slopes of the crater.
The star fell ages ago, devastating the surrounding land. Giants of a now-vanished empire found the star in a cradle of obsidian and built the iron forge around it to channel its power into their craft.
Star Forge Features
Map 4.16 shows the Star Forge, including the following features:
Star Forge Magic
A creature with proficiency in appropriate artisan's tools can use the Star Forge to create magic items using those tools and an amount of materials based on the item's rarity. For every 8 hours of work, the creature can make an Intelligence check using its tool proficiency, with a DC set by the item's rarity. On a successful check, the creature makes 100 gp worth of progress. On a failed check, no progress is made. For every 10 by which the check exceeds the DC, the creature makes an additional 100 gp of progress. The item is complete when the progress equals the cost of materials for the item. See the Star Forge Item Creation table for item rarity, cost, and check DC.
| Rarity | Material Cost | Check DC |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 100 gp | 10 |
| Uncommon | 500 gp | 15 |
| Rare | 5,000 gp | 20 |
| Very Rare | 50,000 gp | 25 |
| Legendary | 500,000 gp | 30 |
Additionally, a creature that works material in the workshop area can use the forge to cast the fabricate spell requiring no spell components. Once this property has been used, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
Star Forge Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Star Forge or to give them missions to pursue there.
A Star Is Reborn
Thieves damaged the Giant runes stabilizing the Star Forge, and the fallen star at the forge's heart is regaining its former magnitude. As the star's power grows, frequent earthquakes release creatures from the 3 and 3 tables (see 3) into the surrounding area. Unless the runes are repaired, the star threatens to consume the region—or perhaps the whole world.
Forging a Throne
A dwarf smith hopes to use the Star Forge to create a crown that will end a war of succession in their clan, but they need protection to reach the forge and finish their work. The forge is protected by an iron golem fueled by radiant energy and other creatures from the 3 in 3.
Guiding Whispers
A voice whispers into a character's dreams, leading the character toward the Star Forge. The voice offers instructions for creating a fantastic magic item, but creatures from the 3 (see 3) desperately oppose the work.
Magnum Opus
A fire giant forge master is close to creating their greatest work, a runic colossus (see 6), but they lack a crucial component. If the characters find the 4 (in this chapter), evade or destroy the sand's guardians from the 3 (see 3), and fill a vial with the magical sand, the giant helps them create a sentient magic item.
Thundering Observatory
A gigantic turret of stone and crystal hangs in the sky, suspended between two breathtakingly tall mountain peaks by twin tethers of rumbling lightning. The light and rolling thunder herald the location's existence for many miles, though it's so remote that only a handful of people have ever seen it, and fewer still have explored it.
The few people who have managed to enter and explore the Thundering Observatory have thus far discovered only its remote viewing potential and not the full truth of the suspended turret. Most creatures can't comfortably remain in the turret long enough to puzzle out its true purpose as a doomsday weapon built by a lost empire of giants.
Thundering Observatory Features
Map 4.17 depicts the Thundering Observatory, including the following features:
Thundering Observatory Magic
A creature in the Observation Chamber can use the control console to activate the following properties:
Thundering Observatory Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Thundering Observatory or to give them missions to pursue there.
Collateral Damage
Factions consisting of creatures from the 3 for two kinds of giants in 3 have damaged the observatory in their struggle for control of the site, and its energy is building toward an overload. To stop the imminent explosion, the characters must negotiate with or get through the fighting creatures to repair the control console.
Escalation
Goliath giant-kin (see 6) who live on one of the nearby mountains are at war with creatures from the 3 in 3. On the brink of destruction, the goliaths hope the observatory they have seen from afar can tip the scales in their favor, and they hire adventurers to secure it.
Final Key
A storm giant offers the characters a stunning reward if the characters can use the 4 (in this chapter) to build him a machine component. Once they do, an adult gold dragon warns them the giant intends to use the component to activate the Thundering Observatory as a doomsday weapon.
Fire When Ready
A frost giant plans to use the observatory's Death Ray to destroy her rivals in 4 (in this chapter). The current ruler of Hiatea's Hearth has learned of the giant's plan and implores the characters to thwart it. Creatures from the 3 and 3 tables (see 3) defend the observatory.
History Lesson
A rock gnome mage has pieced together accounts from ancient sites leading to the observatory. Creatures from the 3 in 3, fueled by magical lightning, deny entrance to the turret when the characters escort the gnome there to study.
Worldroot Sapling
In a remote corner of the world, immense, thorny tree roots twist across the barren ground. In the center of this desolate tangle, an enormous sapling gleams with the green of fresh growth, clearly a young tree despite its prodigious size. This is the Worldroot Sapling, a spark of defiant life amid the remnants of dead plants and ashen ground.
The sapling is a seedling from the world tree Yggdrasil, planted and nurtured by an enigmatic group of giants called the Worldroot Circle (described in 2). Some tales speak of the world tree stretching through every plane and world of the multiverse, while others say wicked dragons long ago gnawed on and poisoned the great tree. Whatever the fate of Yggdrasil, the Worldroot Sapling stands as a symbol of hope and the perseverance of life. The life energy of the sapling suffuses the ground in the clearing, and the light it sheds soothes weariness and eases pain.
Worldroot Sapling Features
Map 4.18 depicts the Worldroot Sapling, including the following features:
Worldroot Sapling Magic
The Worldroot Sapling has the following properties:
Worldroot Sapling Adventures
Here are sample adventure hooks to bring characters to the Worldroot Sapling or to give them missions to pursue there.
Deathly Hunger
Cloud giants of the Worldroot Circle defend the sapling against ravenous Undead who wish to feed on the tree's life energy. The giants send an urgent, magical call for help. Wraiths, vampire spawn, and creatures from the 3 in 3 assault the sapling.
Persistent Knowledge
A venerable sage is desperate to escape the looming threat of death. Becoming Undead is odious to them, and their search to extend their life led them to the Worldroot Sapling. The sage hires the characters to destroy or disable the thorn-covered versions of creatures from the 3 (see 3) who guard the sapling against all intruders.
Rotten Roots
A stone giant of Evil Earth (see 6) and the giant's evil minions from the 3 in 3 have taken control of the Worldroot Sapling. The cultists are pouring corrupt earth elemental energy into the sapling, twisting it to create a gargantua (see 6). A stone giant seer begs the characters to help her thwart the cult.
Spreading Branches
A group of firbolg primeval wardens (see 6) seek to reconnect the 4 and 4 (both in this chapter) to a magical network that once spanned the world. The firbolgs believe they can use the network created by an ancient civilization of giants to channel the sapling's life energy to revitalize devastated regions of the world. They need help carrying cuttings of the sapling to the two sites. Along the way, the characters must deal with creatures from the 3 at the Singing Sands and with tyrannical giants from the 3 at the Forest Crystal (both tables are in 3).