Gaspode persuaded the gnoll prisoner to sketch out a map of the lair before them. Then they hit upon a plan. Siosiann and Fonesca attempted to learn the Wraithform spell so that they could accompany Jito through the doors of the giant fortress and further in; to neutralise the guard next to his warning horn. Siosiann succeeded, by Fonesca did not. So it was these two that went ahead to the doors while Gamm, Gaspode, Kurtalla and Tettet lurked nearby under cover of invisibilities cast by Jito. The gnome himself held a pebble that served as the centre of a zone of silence, so when he had squeezed under the stone door and behind the tapestry on the wall of a corridor beyond, he simply ended his gaseous existence and dropped the pebble into the horn that hung on the wall. Next, he crossed the room to where he could hear himself again so that he could cast his mirror image.
In the meantime the other occupant of the room had become restless. The fire giant sentry had thought that it had heard something, or rather nothing, when he should have. He pulled open the tapestry for a quick look into the corridor, only to fell Jito痴 blade bite deep into his right thigh from behind. Siosiann was, at that moment, opening the stone portal with a spell so that the others could join them, but she was still invisible, so the giant saw nothing. She quickly cast her own mirror image and lunged to attack the back of the now-turned giant. Jito痴 potion boosted strength was proving to be a good match for the hapless giant, who couldn稚 distinguish the real gnome amongst the five creatures ranged before him. Siosiann managed to slash the giant with her blade once before Jito had finished him off in the eerie silence still emanating from within the horn.
The invisible, but certainly not silent group of warriors arrived up to the two infiltrators as they pulled the giant痴 body into the alcove and they all pressed on up the wide corridor. As the passage opened out into a wide columned chamber to the east, the Mothers could see two ettins standing guard. From the two-headed creatures� point of view, they saw a small gnome approaching them on his own, they learned their mistake when Gamm, Gaspode, Kurtalla and Jito himself unleashed a flurry of blades before they could even bring their clubs to bear. Before the ettins hit the ground, four fire giants had begun to run the length of the hall to ward off the intruders. These giants were huge specimens, standing eighteen feet tall and wielding huge clubs. Their armour was black and well crafted. But they paled in comparison to their king. Snurre the Great stood up from his throne, pulling a huge flaming black sword into the air above his crown with a shout, which was soon echoed by various poundings and chiming in the distance.
Those in the front line could not pause to contemplate these things, for the bodyguards of the King were upon them. Gamm and Gaspode were the quickest in dealing with their immediate foe. They managed to fell their opponents before they could land a blow. But the hell hounds of Snurre breathed fire and wounded all of the fighters. Kurtalla learnt the pain of leaving a live giant to fight as the heavy club of his opponent crashed against his shoulder. Fonesca heard booted feet coming their way from at least two directions and cast a wall of ice to block the north-western passage. Levi assessed the level of threat and decided on casting a defensive harmony to help the group. Eight more giants had answered their King痴 call and jumped in to replace their fallen compatriots. The fighters managed to kill the remaining two bodyguards and wound another two of the new arrivals. All of those in the front line on the Mother痴 side had suffered heavy blows from the clubs of the giants. Kurtalla was most sorely hurt. Gebhart channelled some healing magic into the ranger to keep him on his feet. Fonesca meanwhile was trying to affect the reinforcements before they had the chance to harm her fellows. She dropped an ice sheet on the heads of the latest group trying to get the King at the same time. Although the foot-soldiers were hurt by it, Snurre himself seemed unaffected. When eight giants lay dead before them, Kurtalla had to withdraw due to his wounds, just as another twelve giants arrived. This gave the Mothers pause.